One Of These Days
by Kit-cat99
Summary: He's got it figured, one of these days, she isn't going to want to be with him. Hell, he didn't even know why she wanted to now. Maybe he should just accept that she does and go along with it, who knows how long it'll last. Daryl/OC. Expanded from One-Shot. Complete
1. Chapter 1

**One Of These Days**

Summary: Daryl never could figure out what had drawn her to him, not that he was complaining. He just took what he was given and tried not to question it too much.

Rating: M (for sexual content, some swearing)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Daryl Dixon or anything to do with The Walking Dead series.

A/N: So, it's a change from Supernatural. I've just been on a massive Walking Dead kick lately, watching videos, reading other stories, talking to people about it. This just seemed to pop into my head. Depending on the feedback will depend on whether or not this becomes an actual story or just a one-shot. And yes, I did do this in the same sort of way that I did my Supernatural one-shot, It's a Bar Thing. Just easier this way when there's only two people really involved and I've yet to think of a name for a person.

* * *

He crouched low and entered into the tent, eyes searching around in the darkness. He had been gone a couple of days now, out hunting for something to eat. He was the only person who did it, only person who could. It had taken some time this time, more than he expected or cared for. At least he had something to show for it, the fair sized deer lying haphazardly next to the fire pit was show enough of that. Now he was just tired and his body demanded sleep.

The tent was already occupied, something that shouldn't have surprised him as much as it did.

Of course it was occupied, these days it always was.

He sat down carefully, quietly, turned to face the entrance to pull his boots off. He paused before he pulled the first one off and slowly turned to the make shift bed to look at it's occupant. He honestly couldn't remember the time that she hadn't taken over his tent. Sure, before she became part of the group, he had kept the tent to himself, but after she ended up with them...well...he just wasn't sure when exactly it was that she had moved in.

And he still wondered why.

Of all the men he wasn't the best looking. Hell, of all the men, he wasn't even the nicest. He couldn't for the life of himself figure out what it was that had put her where she was now.

They were both from Georgia, sure, but that was about the only similarity they had. He had been raised in a trailer by absent...well...everyone. She had been raised in the high end streets. She came from money, he came from welfare. She had been a cheerleader, he had been the trashy kid that rarely showed up to class. If the world hadn't fallen to shit, they never would have paid the other any mind except for maybe him whistling at her as she walked down the streets, to which she likely would have rolled her eyes or flipped him off or both. She had been going to school, studying to be a doctor of some kind, he had just been going through woods, hunting whatever crossed his path.

His eyes fell on her sleeping form, something he usually did whenever he came in after she had gone to sleep, or even if he was just awake while she wasn't. He just watched her in the dark, and wondered.

Why?

His teeth caught on his thumb as he lifted it towards his mouth and he gnawed lightly on his cuticle, contemplating his next move. He really shouldn't do anything. He really should just get up and go...sleep outside or something. Even as he thought it, he knew he didn't want to. But he couldn't keep doing this could he? He was driving himself insane with his wondering and his uncertainty.

He had finally made up his mind, getting to his feet and starting to duck down when he heard her stir. The slight moan and ruffling of blankets as she rolled over made him pause.

"When'd you get back?" Her voice asked sleepily as she sat up. He turned to look at her, even in the dark, her blonde hair standing out. Her hand lifted up to rub her eyes.

"Just now, didn't mean to wake ya up." He replied quietly. She chuckled lightly, her head shaking. "I was just gonna..."

"Get over here." Her tone was light, easy, but still demanding enough that he just couldn't argue. He finally pulled off his boots, zipped the tent completely shut, then dropped onto his knees and crawled over to the bed. "We gonna go through this again?" Despite all her 'proper' upbringing, her voice still held that rough southern twang. He had been there for her break down when she finally ran out of cigarettes at metaphorically bit off the heads of anyone that dared come near her the first day she was nicotine free.

Everyone but him or one of the kids. The only reason she didn't go after him was because he snapped right back at her and it escalated into fights that their 'fearless leader' eventually had to step into in such a way that just irked both of them even more.

"Ain't nothing to go through." He muttered softly, shrugging his shoulders. He caught the sight of her smiling as his eyes continued to adjust to the darkness of the tent. She laid back down and rolled over, arm reaching up to pull him down as well. He went without resistance, getting into place behind her. He sighed, unsure if it was because he was tired or if he was frustrated for some reason. Her fingers ran light circles over the back of his hand before her head turned to look over her shoulder at him.

"What's the matter?" She asked, curious. He mentally scolded her ability to figure people out. Even in the dark, he could tell she had that knowing look on her face. She already knew all she needed to know, she just had to hear him say things sometimes.

"Nothing." He responded, not wanting to give in.

"I swear, you are such a mess of a man." She muttered, completely amused. Her hand lifted up to cup his cheek and she twisted her upper body just slightly. Her fingers pushed down softly, his head moving down to allow their lips to connect. He should have known that was coming, it always did. If he didn't do it on his own, she would remind him to with gentle pressure. Their lips moved together, her tongue sweeping out of it's confines to explore the now familiar appendage nearby.

Her body twisted more until she was now lying flat on her back. His hands moved down her arms until their lightly gripped both wrists and forced them down next to her head. His own upper body was hovering now over hers. Slowly, he pulled his head back, separating their oral contact. He looked her over carefully in the dark, his hands experimentally tightening around her wrists but she made no sign of discomfort, nor did she lose eye contact with him.

"Still don't get how you trust me so much." He whispered. Her head tilted ever so slightly, almost as if to silently question why he always had so much trouble accepting her actions.

"And I still don't get how you don't accept the good things that come your way." She retaliated in a joking tone. She slowly moved her hands out from under his grasp. When he felt them move, he opened his own hands, letting hers slip through with no resistance. Her hands rested on his shoulders before they slowly moved up to hold the back of his neck. Her fingers toyed lightly with the short hairs there before she leaned up to reattach their lips.

One of these days, he figured, she won't be in his tent, or whatever he happened to stay in at some point down the road.

One of these days, she won't be waiting for him, waiting for his kisses.

One of these days, she won't be giving him a second look, a secret smile, and sneaky wink.

But not this day.

This day, she was in his tent, waiting for him and only him. This day, she was opening his shirt, pushing it off his shoulders, tossing it away when he pulled his arms free. This day, she only parted from his lips long enough to pull her thin little T-shirt over her head.

He stopped thinking about it when she forced his jeans down his legs. Stopped thinking about pretty much everything when she wiggled free of her sleeping shorts. When her legs wrapped around his waist and her small hand gripped the appendage between his legs to guide it to the place she wanted, well, he was just amazed his brain even functioned after that. They stayed still for a few moments, just like they did at the very beginning of each time together. It was her way of letting him actually believe it was happening.

It was odd, being the one that was getting taken care of rather than doing the caring, and in such a gentle way too.

She gave him that saucy little smile of hers before she lifted her hips, signalling it was time to move. So he moved, pulling his hips back then shoving them forward again, causing her whole body to buck. Her head tilted back, her hands gripping his shoulders. He repeated the action again and again, starting off slow and building up speed. His eyes lowered to the two creamy white orbs bouncing with each thrust. He always enjoyed that, the bounce.

"Daryl..." She called his name with a mewling sound, staying as quiet as she possibly could. He always loved making her make that sound, the soft, breathlessness combined with her drawl just sent a shiver racing down his spine. He slammed into her harder, bringing a yelp to pass her lips, followed quickly by an approving moan.

One of his arms slithered under her lower back. He had to hold her somehow, and this way their position was adjusted. His arm tightened, causing her hips to lift slightly, and he hit at a different angle. She put her fist to her mouth, biting at the flesh just under her knuckles, next to her thumb. Her moans squeezed past her hand, playing like music to his ears. Her other hand ran down his arm, running over muscles, to get into his free hand. She lifted both of them, intertwining her fingers with his and letting him push her hand down into the blankets next to her head.

"Holy...God...fuck." She groaned out her curses, lifting her hand away to resume it's earlier position behind his neck. He tightened his arm around her waist as her legs tightened around his, leaving barely any room for them to move anymore. Somehow they managed, him thrusting in short and hard jerks. Her fingers massaged at the back of his neck and she watched his eyes close before his head dropped, face burying in the junction between her neck and shoulder.

"Fuck...it's...I can't..." He mumbled against her skin. His eyes were squeezed shut, his hips moving fasted, pushing harder. The sound of skin hitting skin, both of them breathing heavily, and her little whimpers and mewls were doing him in fast.

"Don't..." She whispered, and he knew what she was referring to. He lifted his head in order to press their lips back together, both of them swallowing up the final groans from the other as they reached that peak. His hips slowed down considerably, savouring this moment. Their kiss became lazy, her hand sliding down to cup his cheek tenderly. Nothing was urgent about this moment, nothing even existed outside of the pair.

He finally withdrew from her and reached for her sleeping clothes. His pants were still around his ankles and he rolled to her side to adjust himself, dragging the clothing back up his legs and doing the button up as she pulled her shorts and t-shirt on.

This time when she rolled to her side, her back to him, he didn't hesitate to lie in behind her, arm encircling her waist, her back molding to his front. He allowed himself a small smile when he felt her breathing even out as she returned once more to the unconscious world. She was the easiest person in the world to wake up when he wasn't around but when he was there was her, it took actual effort to bring her out of her slumber. He never understood how she had gotten so trusting of him, so comfortable around him, why she had just one day chosen that he was hers and, he supposed, she was his now as well.

One of these days, he figured, she won't be his.

One of these days, she won't go out of her way to make him feel like a wanted man.

One of these days, she won't want him in her bed, or even in her.

But today wasn't that day.

Today she was his, and maybe, just maybe, tomorrow he won't hesitate again. Just maybe, tomorrow, he'll surprise her and be the initiator.

He smiled at the thought before drifting off into sleep.

* * *

So here's the deal. If this continues on into an actual story, obviously there'll be a name. I might put in a bit about how she came into the group and maybe even have her tell someone what it was about Daryl that drew her in, that made her be how she is with him. There will definitely be more character developement if the story continues as well.

Obviously this story takes place before the series started. Also taking place after some time together, outside of the fighting and everything else that likely took place between the two of them. I know the majority (if not all of my readers) are total Supernatural fans but I wonder how any of them (or even some new people) feel about Walking Dead.


	2. Newcomers

**Newcomers**

You people have no idea how happy it made me to wake up, check my emails, and see all those reviews just instantaneously. Eight hours after I put the first part up and BAM! Lol, thank you so much everyone.

So little bit more of back history now. I'm just saying this right off the bat here, I do not like Lori. With everything she's done and everything she's doing, just can't stand her. So I'm having a second OC in this story that may or may not end up with Rick, I haven't decided yet. So far she's just going to be that confidant person for him but we'll see how things play out. I also do not really watch the show that much, I just know what I know from talking to people and reading stuff on certain characters and all that so this story is basically an AU in case I mess up somewhere.

Okay, now that that is said, let's get on with the story.

* * *

Daryl opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was his crossbow, all nice and clean, sitting on top of some equally clean clothes of his. Next to that was a stack of new arrows. His tent mate was no longer around but that didn't surprise him overly much. If he was gone for longer than a day, she often let him sleep in and would tear into whoever thought to try and wake him up. He had been told by Carol that his blonde tent mate didn't seem to sleep much when he was gone all night so he did wonder how she managed to wake up before him on these particular days.

He stood up as much as he could in the low tent and stretched his arms out to his sides as he yawned. Scratching under his arms, he shoved his dirty pants down and kicked them off before pulling on the cleaner clothes. He slung the crossbow across his back and picked up the arrows to put them away in the quiver. He sat down on the tent floor to pull on his boots before he exited the cloth room. His eyes squinted in the bright sunlight as he looked around.

"Bo's down at the lake." Lori, who had caught sight of the redneck, decided to just point out what she knew, figuring that was what he was looking for.

While the woman had not actually been his intention, he took the information given and decided to see what was what by the lake.

Sure enough, there she was, kneeling by the body of water, elbows deep in a bin with dirty clothes. He could tell without even seeing that she was using the last of the soap bar that she had kept away in her pack when she joined them. Now that it had come out, every article of clothing had a slight honey scent to it.

"You always gotta get your ass nagged about coming out in the woods on your own, don't ya woman?" Daryl called out, grinning when she jumped slightly.

Isabeau Walker shot the man a dirty look that was mixed only slightly with amusement as she went back to her cleaning. For the longest time, everyone only thought her name had been Bo as her necklace said. Most everyone still believed that. It wasn't until one of the few nights the two of had remained naked as they lay after sex did she tell him her full name.

Of course everyone knew her last name was Walker from the time Glen had yelled out that there was a walker nearby and she had turned around, calling 'what' as she assumed she was being addressed.

"You always gotta get on about my ass, don't ya Hick?" Bo teased back, reaching one soaking wet hand up to brush her blonde hair out of her face. She had put it into one of those complicated braids that always left him baffled as to how she managed it on herself.

"It's a good ass." Daryl replied appreciatively, tilting his head to the side in an attempt to see the aforementioned body part. Bo laughed and shook her head. "So who ya cleaning for now?"

"Just some of the kid stuff." Bo answered. Daryl leaned himself on a tree and looked around, eyes taking in their surroundings and all possible areas of entrance. "You gonna play my guard now?"

"Since you ain't got your gun on you, stupid girl, guess I'm gonna have to." Daryl pointed out. Bo just smirked and turned her attention back to her job at hand. Daryl looked at her and bit back a groan. She was by far the messiest cleaner he'd ever met. Sure, she might have been able to wash clothes in a washing machine, there was almost nothing either, but doing it in a bin the way she was...well...clearly it was a challenge for her. She had gotten herself damn near soaked as well. Had it not been for her hair being dry, Daryl would have thought Bo had taken a dive into the lake fully clothed. Her back was dry but her front wasn't.

"If you start laughing at me, I'm throwing ya into the water." Bo threatened, taking in the amused expression on her companion's face.

"Not a peep." Daryl promised, hands up in defence while he continued to smirk. Her eyes rolled but she said nothing more on the issue.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD**TWD***_

Rick looked out the window as he sat in the car. His arm was lifted as the woman next to him checked over his bandages. She fussed a lot, he noticed, but he was grateful for her presence and her overall assistance. Since waking up in the hospital full of the walking dead, he had been highly disoriented. Finding his companion locked in a body drawer in the morgue had been creepy but she explained how she had been with a group that had attempted to find supplies at the hospital and had split up. When walkers had stumbled their way after her, she had done the only thing she could think of and jumped into the drawer, accidentally locking herself in.

From that point on she had helped him, getting him to his house to find it empty, no Lori, no Carl. She had been a good shot when they had run into any trouble with walkers and had made no protest to riding a horse into Atlanta. The only thing she was insistent on was stopping from time to time to check his bandages and the wound they covered.

"Anna, I'm okay." Rick insisted softly, turning a gentle smile to the woman. She grinned back and leaned away, looking out her own window.

"Your gut all tingly yet?" Anna asked curiously.

"No." Rick replied. Anna had a theory that all families had a sort of tracking system so they could find each other one way or another. Anytime he asked her about it, she stayed quiet, leading him to believe that her family wasn't one involved in her theory.

"You'll find them." Anna stated. "Hey, they might even be in this group, right Glen?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah...maybe." Glen answered, glancing at the woman. She couldn't help the smile as she reached over and patted the young man's arm. She brushed her brown hair back out of her eyes as it fell loose from her ponytail.

When the car came to a stop, Anna got out first then turned to watch Rick just in case he needed the help. Her head tilted slightly and then she smiled when he gave her a reassuring grin. Both of their eyes darted around at their surroundings, at the amount of people around them.

"Bigger than my last group." Anna muttered thoughtfully. Rick began to say something in response to that when something caught his eye. Anna looked at him then looked where he was staring. At first nothing jumped out at her but then she saw it. The woman and child from the picture he kept in his patrol car. "HA! Told ya!"

"DAD!" Carl's surprised by joyous yell rang out as the young boy darted away from his mother. Lori blinked in confusion as she quickly went after him. Rick met the boy half way and dropped down to hug him tightly. Anna stayed back, smiling happily as she watched the little family reunite. She caught sight of another man in the same sort of uniform that Rick was in and her interest peaked, watching that man watch the family.

"Shane." Rick's gratitude was evident in his voice as he broke away from his family for a moment to embrace his old friend.

"Why don't you go introduce yourself?" Glen asked, looking at Anna.

"Uh...nah, it's their time you know." Anna reasoned, hands going into her pockets. "He needs to be with his family right now and whoever is familiar to him." She smiled lightly and looked around, content to just take in the latest surroundings.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

Bo dumped the water out of the bin and watched it soak into the ground. She heard Daryl moving around behind her and the unmistakable twang of his crossbow letting loose an arrow, followed by the thud that could only mean he had hit something.

"Take out Thumper?" Bo asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Who the fuck is Thumper?" Daryl asked, walking over to a rabbit that was now pinned to a tree.

"Have you seriously never seen Bambi?" Bo questioned.

"That the one with the deer?" Daryl remarked, uninterested.

"You are such a wreck." Bo laughed, skipping over to the tough man and lacing her arms around his waist from behind. He looked over his shoulder at her and lifted an eyebrow. She leaned her forehead against his back, right in between his shoulder blades. He squirmed slightly but only because he was hot and sweaty and he didn't think she'd want to touch that. His hand touched her hands, linked in front of his stomach.

"What's up?" Daryl asked, curious on the behaviour.

"Tired." Bo yawned.

"It's still morning time Bo Bo." Daryl teased. Bo laughed slightly behind him then stood on her toes and kissed the back of his neck. She squeezed his middle before slowly letting go and collecting all the clothes. "Think them other folks is back yet?"

"Missing your brother, are ya?" Bo questioned, grinning.

"Now he ain't nearly as good a company as you." Daryl remarked, bringing a laugh from the blonde woman. He pulled the rabbit from the tree and looked it over before carrying it by it's ears back towards the camp with Bo behind him. He slowed down slightly and she scoffed, passing him and throwing a remark over her shoulder about him getting old. He just grinned, eyes on her ass as her hips swayed back and forward as she walked. It was such a fantastic sight.

They were quiet as they stepped out of the woods into the camp. They paused, taking in the activity around them. Bo spotted a new woman first, maybe a few years older than herself with brown hair and a slight tan. Her pale green tank top was dirty from, well, dirt, and some blood and grime that Bo could only suspect came from killing walkers. She drifted her eyes around, spotting familiar people all over the place, and then her eyes landed on a man dressed in a sheriff uniform, similar to Shane's, in a tight embrace with Lori.

"Huh...wonder who that is." Bo muttered, shifting the wash bin.

"The guy?" Daryl asked. Bo nodded, keeping an eye on the interaction. "Dunno, but ain't Lori getting porked by Shane?"

"Shhh." Bo hissed softly. "This is gonna be one hell of a interesting turn of events, don't go giving away any plots." Daryl just gave a strange look and she smiled before walking over to the group. The hunter followed her, eyes searching around again for that one extra familiar face that he just couldn't seem to spot. The more he looked, the deeper he frowned. When Bo finally looked back at him, she had a look of concern on her own face, knowing what it was that was bothering her companion.

"HEY!" Daryl yelled out, drawing attention to him. Bo glanced around, noticing Glen shift uncomfortably and lowering his gaze. "Where the fuck is Merle?"

* * *

So this is a little short and the next chapter is actually gonna be set a little ways down the season. Truthfully, I really don't know much about the second half of season one or the first half of season two so if there's any specific episode kind of thing anyone wants, try and find the name of it so I can look it up and do it for ya.


	3. He's a Tramp

**He's a Tramp  
**

Okay so I actually just learned that there was only six episodes in the first season and honestly, I didn't want to do a whole lot more at that original camp so we're just jumping straight over to the CDC building.

* * *

Bo sucked on her finger despite the fact that it had stopped bleeding already. Doctor Jenner had done blood tests on everyone as the condition to let them stay. Due to Bo's fear of needles, she kept tilting away from the doctor every time he went to poke her. Finally, she had ended up cutting her finger by accident but it been sufficient enough for Jenner to get what he needed.

Now she walked through the cold hallways and frowned, not entirely liking the look and atmosphere of their current location. Her hand dropped as she decided she was going to just go straight to Daryl now, enough of exploring. If she was going to feel safe at all, it was going to be around him.

"I love you." The sound of Shane's voice caught the blonde's attention and she looked through a doorway to see Shane and Lori standing in front of each other. Bo tilted her head and frowned slightly. Lori was saying nothing and Shane looked ready to get angry at her silence. So, at that thought, Bo did the only thing she could think of and stepped into view loudly, her once silent steps now making an echoing clang.

"Hey y'all, I didn't interrupt something now, did I?" Bo asked casually, tilting her head.

"No...Shane was just going." Lori replied quickly. The man shot the brunette one last pleading look which she ignored before he stormed out, narrowly avoiding bumping into Bo had it not been for the blonde stepping aside quickly. The two women looked at each other but the older one couldn't hold the contact for long. "Bo, I..."

"You got your husband back, Lori." Bo cut in, putting her hand up. "I ain't putting myself into anything that don't involve me so you best not be dragging no one but you, Rick and Shane into your little mess." The older woman's cheeks went red as she didn't know whether or not to be angry. "And you best not string no body along either. Pick who you want, and go with them."

With that said, the blonde left the room, not wanting to hear any undignified arguments that might have come from Lori's mouth. Bo found Daryl easily, lounging out on the bed in the room they had claimed with his hands under his head. He had been quiet since returning from the hunt for Merle without actually finding the man. Bo had to find out from Glen that all they found was the older Dixon's hand. The woman had cringed at the thought of it and promptly pushed the image from her mind. She walked across the room and threw herself onto the bed, startling the man and causing him to look at her as if she were insane.

"Whatcha doing?" Daryl asked.

"Hmm...what do you think?" Bo asked casually. Daryl chuckled lightly and shook his head. She smiled, happy to not see that flicker of confusion, self doubt, and god knew whatever else it was that plagued his eyes whenever he looked at her. She brought her fingers up to the buttons on his shirt and popped a few of them open. He didn't move his hands, keeping them under his head as he watched her.

"Bo Bo, you been thinking on the naughty track?" Daryl asked.

"Me? Naughty? Never." Bo stated sarcastically, shaking her head and letting her blonde hair fall over her shoulders. She looked at his arm, at the bandage that was over the place Jenner had inserted a needle to draw blood. The doctor of the building was just as creepy as the rest of the building. "Wanna know what I found out?"

"Hmm?" Daryl hummed, only slightly interested.

"Our room is...a fair distance from everyone else's." Bo informed him, working more buttons open. Now Daryl's interest was more as an eyebrow lifted. "And with the door closed...got a little more sound muffling."

"Now ain't you just a naughty little woman." Daryl laughed, sitting up. He tangled his hand into her hair and pulled her to him, finally catching her by surprise. He smiled as he kissed her, pleased that he had managed this feat. His other hand fell on her waist and pulled her tight towards his body. He felt her smiling against his lips and twisted them around, pushing her down onto her back on the bed, her leg hiked up around his waist.

"You should do that more often." Bo mused with a smirk. Daryl glanced up then returned the smirk himself, only his was a conspiratorial one. He pressed his lips back to hers as he worked his belt through the loops of his pants. Bo didn't even realize that he had moved her arms until she felt the leather bind them. Pulling away from the kiss in curiousity, she tilted her head up to examine her hands attached to one of the bars that made up the headboard. She lowered her gaze to the man over her and raised an eyebrow, challenging his determination to keep her bound.

"You ain't going no where, Bo Bo." Daryl pointed out.

"Never had any intention to." Bo countered, smiling.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

Anna looked amused as she watched Rick talk with the doctor of the building. He was getting more and more drunk and she felt an odd sense of happiness over the fact that she was the one who got to sit with him, rather then his wife.

"It's just one thing after another, you know?" Rick finally stated, turning somber in his drunken state. Anna tilted her head as she shifted her gaze between the two men. "It's good we found this place. There's...there's not really a chance to survive...out there."

"Rick, I think you've reached that drinking point where you start getting overly depressing." Anna pointed out, her hand lifting to pat the man's back. He looked at her and gave her a sad smile before shaking his head.

"Don't worry, it will all be okay." Jenner assured them. Anna paused as she looked at the doctor, a slight chill going down her spine at the way he said that.

"I'm gonna...get him to bed...to his family." She announced, rising from her chair and putting her vastly untouched glass down. She reached down and helped Rick to his feet and the two bid the doctor good night.

"You're very caring." Rick muttered, walking through the quiet hallways with an arm around Anna's shoulders.

"Yep, that's me." Anna agreed softly. She held her arm around Rick's waist even though he seemed to be keeping himself upright fairly well on his own. "You're very drunk too."

"No I'm not." Rick waved off her statement with a shake of his head. The action made him stumble slightly, bringing Anna along with him as he collided with a wall. She blinked at the sudden change in direction then just stared as the sheriff's deputy laughed. "Okay...maybe a little."

"Yeah...maybe a little." Anna mused, grinning. She helped him right himself once more and continued on the way. "You happy to be back with your family?"

"I'm happy to be back with Carl." Rick stated, lifting a hand to scratch at his nose.

"And your wife." Anna added. The man stayed silent and she shifted her eyes to look at him. "Rick."

"Yeah?" Rick asked, turning his head in her direction.

"You're happy to be with Lori." Anna stated, firmly but still surprised that he hadn't said it himself.

"Yeah...right...I am." Rick agreed, smiling slightly. "It's just...she's...no, you're right, I'm happy to be with my family."

"Good...not everyone gets to have their families back...you need to cherish this." Anna instructed, slowly her steps as they neared the room the Grimes couple resided in. The door was slightly open, as was the one across the hall where Anna had no doubt, Carl was sleeping. She dropped her arm from the man's waist and took a careful step away from him. "You got your wife, your kid, your best friend...all back."

"Yeah...yeah I do." Rick muttered. A slight frown crossed his face, almost as if something unpleasant had just occurred to him. He shook his head, hand on the wall to stop from tilting over again. He gave Anna a smile and she happily returned it, glad to see that he seemed to be taking her words into consideration.

"You're good now?" The woman asked kindly.

"All good." Rick confirmed, nodding. He reached forward, hand landing gently on her shoulder. "Thank you Anna, for everything you've done...everything you're doing. I couldn't have made it back to my family without you."

"Sure you could have." Anna stated firmly, waving a finger at the officer. He chuckled lightly then leaned down and pressed a friendly kiss to her cheek. She sighed and nudged him softly into his room. "Good night Rick."

"Good night Anna." Rick bid his farewell for the night and entered into the room, bumping slightly into the door and chuckling quietly again. Anna shook her head, grinning, and headed down the hall to her own room.

Shane watched her pass by his room, going unnoticed by the woman as her attention was elsewhere. He raised an eyebrow, having observed the entire interaction, and tilted his head in sheer curiousity.

Well...maybe he should try something else.

There was always more than one way to any given goal after all.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

Bo moaned softly as Daryl's rough hands ran down her bare back. She was impressed that had could do any sort of massage well, but then again she had done it often enough to him and he was good at gauging the right pressure with other things, this shouldn't have been too hard. He was just full of surprises this day, not that she was complaining. Particularly not over the fact that she got to be on top. She moaned again, more for the memory of getting ride the redneck then for the fact that he was giving her a nice rub down.

"I could...definitely...get over the creepy feeling of this place...if this was a daily treat." Bo mused, only partially joking.

"Creepy huh?" Daryl asked. The woman nodded slightly, squirming a bit when his hand pressed a little too hard on a spot that had been sore. He took the silent hint and rubbed gently until she let out a content sigh. She smiled slightly, starting to hum a random song as it came into her head. Daryl raised an eyebrow as he slowly stopped his rubbing.

"He's a tramp, but they love him. Breaks a new heart, every day. He's a tramp, they adore him, and I only hope he stays that way." Bo sang softly. Even lying on her stomach as she was, her hips still moved back and forward along with the tune of her song. "He's a tramp, he's a scoundrel, he's a rounder, he's a cad. He's a tramp, but I love him. Yes, even I have got it pretty bad."

"What in the world are you singing woman?" Daryl asked, leaning away from the body under him now. Bo laughed slightly and rolled over, throwing her legs off the bed and standing up to actually dance. Rather than answer him, she just swayed her hips along, lifting her arms over her head, and continued.

"You can never tell, when he'll show up. He gives you plenty of trouble." Bo sang off, getting a little louder now. "I guess he's just a no count pup, but I wish that he were double. He's a tramp, he's a rover, and there's nothing more to say." She turned her back towards him, singing over her shoulder as she smiled gleefully over the fact that his eyes were glued to her. "If he's a tramp, he's a good one, and I wish that I could travel his way." She turned back to him, moving closer to him. Her naked body very sensual at the moment. "Wish that I could travel his way. Wish that I could travel his way."

Bo dragged out the last word as she slowly climbed onto Daryl's lap. At the very end, pressing her lips to his. He had grown hard again from touching her and even harder at the sight of her dance. He made a mental note to ask where she learned all that...later.

His hands grabbed at her waist, twisting them around and pressing her back into the bed. She pulled away from the kiss to tilt her head back as he thrust into her. A happy gasp shot past her lips as she rocked with him, pressing as close to his body as was physically possible Her legs winding around his waist to hold him still for a moment as her eyes opened to look at his. He was actually surprised by the look, it made him hold steady, buried deep inside her.

A slow smile came across her face as she moved her hips again, rebooting his brain as he smirked down at her, shoving his own hips forward to meet hers strong enough to buck her whole body. His lips fell to kiss at her neck, teeth scrapping the thin skin. The woman groaned loudly, one hand gripping his shoulder, nails digging into his back as her other hand lifted up to grab at the bar in the headboard.

They were damn sure someone was bound to hear them but Bo had already checked with the others, knew that all the kid rooms were further away. Their grunts and groans wouldn't be heard by young ears, not unless Daryl made his woman scream and he was almost tempted to but thought against it.

One of these days though.

"Fuck...Daryl...gotta...just a bit.." Bo mewled hotly in his ear. Daryl smirked and reached up, loosening her hand off the bar. She blinked her eyes open and then gasped in surprise when he rolled them over, pulling her on top.

"Ride it out, Bo Bo." Daryl instructed, rubbing his hands over her hips. She moaned, grinning, and leaned back. Her hand now resting on the bed between his legs and she lifted her hips, bringing herself closer and closer to the edge.

That final peak was accomplished when Daryl sat up and grabbed the back of her neck, pulling her to meet his lips in a heated kiss. They had been doing this for some time now and it was always the way they ended, mouth to mouth, muffling the final noises.

Her hips moved slower, riding it all out to the end as they slowly tilted their heads, separating their lips but touching their foreheads.

"Fuck...I am not going to get tired of that." Daryl muttered. Bo laughed slightly, hands running up his bare arms and down his chest. His hand ran through her hair absently as his brain began to slowly work again. "I'll admit it."

"Admit what?" Bo asked, lifting her head up to look at him better.

"Not everything in this apocalypse is bad." Daryl replied. Bo laughed, head falling back. Her blonde hair clung to her shoulders, sleek with sweat. "So what was that damn song?"

"He's a tramp." Bo explained. At Daryl's blank look, the woman sighed, eyes rolling. "Lady and the Tramp...Disney movie. Came out in nineteen fifty five I believe."

"You and your damn cartoons." Daryl muttered, bringing a smile to the woman's lips. "First it was the deer, now it's this."

"Oh like you didn't love the show." Bo teased, poking his shoulder.

"Not denying that, damn good show." Daryl admitted. Bo shook her head and pushed him down, going along with him so they were lying down. "Ain't gonna get any clothes on?"

"Ain't nobody gonna be coming round our room after all that noise." Bo countered. Daryl didn't argue, arm looping around the blonde's shoulders as she lay against his side, slowly drifting off.

* * *

Okay so yes, I was watching Lady and the Tramp as I wrote this and just had to put that song in. It actually sort of fits with Daryl and Bo anyways, if you think the words carefully.


	4. Talks Amongst The Living

**Talks Amongst the Living  
**

So I was going to write the rest of the CDC stuff but apart from adding in two other people who would just likely take lines from everyone else, I couldn't think of anything else to do with it so instead, I'm just jumping to the gap between the end of season one and the start of season two.

Plus I've kind of gotten into loving Shane but I'm not quite sure what I plan on doing with him. I got a little bit of an idea, obviously he loves Lori and all that but I think I'll wait to see what you guys think I should do.

* * *

"Well...that was short lived." Anna muttered, gazing out the back window at the smoke coming up behind them.

"Nothing we could have done." Rick explained quietly, hands gripping the truck's steering wheel. Anna turned back around to look at the back of his head before she looked at Carl sitting on the other side of the back seat. She liked the boy, she got along with him fine. The only person who seemed to have issues was Lori and for the life of herself, Anna couldn't figure out why. She knew that dark glint in the mother's eyes, had seen it several times before. She had lost a lot of friends growing up when they would break up with their boyfriends because they were all sure that Anna had been having affairs with them.

And yet, she was the one who remained single all the time. After the break ups, she still talked to the boys, hell, she was friends with them before she was friends with most of the girls. But she was just one of the guys, there was never that sort of interest in them. So seeing the look from Lori did next to nothing to the younger woman. There was something else in Lori's eyes, not just that dark glint of jealousy but something that almost looked like guilt. Anna wasn't entirely sure on how to solve this so for the time being she was going to not mention it. Whenever she got a chance alone with the other woman, she figured she'd try and reason with her.

Ahead of the car, leading the convoy of vehicles, Bo rode on the back of Daryl's motorcycle, her hands planted on the bit of seat still behind her as she leaned slightly backward, looking around at the surroundings to keep a sharp eye out for anything that could be even remotely helpful or hurtful.

"Woman, if you do not put those damned arms of yours around me, you are going to go flying off this bike and I ain't stopping." Daryl snarled backwards at her. Bo raised an eyebrow and grinned before leaning forward, her arms encircling his waist once more and her chest pressing to his back.

"Better?" The woman called over the wind. Daryl just grunted, head nodding once in affirmation. Bo still looked around, slower then before, not wanting to knock heads with the redneck.

A loud noise made her whip around and then she squeezed Daryl, signalling for him to stop. When he did, she jumped off the bike and moved back to the RV as steam rose from under the hood.

"Well this doesn't seem too bad." Anna announced after checking over the engine. "Just need a few things and it can get fixed up, no problem."

"Spread out, let's see what we can find." Rick called to the group. Daryl, Bo and T Dog went in one direction, Bo and T Dog talking energetically with each other about different things they were glad they didn't have to deal with anymore. Rick was almost certain he heard the term "gay ass Justin Beiber music" as they moved away. He could actually see Daryl cringe at that topic and he distanced himself from the other two.

"Shane's gonna help me." Anna told Rick, coming up next to him with a smile on her face.

"Alright, don't be getting too far." Rick warned.

"Don't worry, I'll watch her." Shane declared, moving away with Anna. Rick watched the two of them and raised an eyebrow at Shane putting a hand on Anna's back.

"Okay...umm...cell phones." Bo thought out loud.

"You don't miss them?" T Dog asked, almost looking amused. "Good little city girl like you?"

"Oh fuck no, I hated the damn things." Bo laughed, opening a car door and looking inside, examining a dead body carefully. "Just another way for the annoying people to bug you. I gave up my blackberry at one point for an android because I had this one girl on my messenger who flipped out if I didn't respond to some of her messages and she could see that I had read them." She nudged aside the body gently and looked around. "You know, because once you've read the message, a little R would pop up by it."

"I'll take your word on that." T Dog muttered, checking another car and frowning at the bodies of a family inside. "I never went for the fancy smart phone things."

"Well you don't really get the option when you go into medical school." Bo explained. She leaned out of her car and looked around then tilted her head. "Does this count as grave robbing?"

"Think that only applies if we actually dig them suckers up." Daryl answered from a few feet away. Bo tilted her head and accepted the answer, getting the trunk of the car opened to see what was inside.

"So how long have you known the Grimes?" Anna asked, looking around as Shane broke into vehicles and hunted around.

"I don't even remember." Shane muttered, laughing slightly. "What about you? How'd you end up meeting Rick?"

"I was in the hospital when he woke up." Anna explained. Shane looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "I was with a group, scavenging and all. We all sort of split up and I ended up having to hide in one of those body shelf things in the morgue. Rick heard me banging away inside and I just...helped him since."

"Lucky him." Shane commented. Anna shrugged and smiled before looking under the hood of a vehicle. Shane returned to scavenging and then let out a gleeful cry. The woman looked over at him and raised an eyebrow then grinning and shaking her head as he produced a large jug of water.

"Nearly would have thought you found the holy grail or something from the noise you made." Anna remarked.

"You know, lady...you look like you could use some cooling off." Shane mused. Next thing she knew, water was getting tossed on her and Anna had to put in an effort not to yelp out loud. She jumped and turned an unamused expression in the cop's direction. He just grinned at her.

"You little..." Anna started but died off, eyes shifting to behind Shane and widening almost fearfully. Shane spun around, gun drawn instantly and looked around, finding nothing there. Anna laughed softly behind him and he realized then that there had just been some pay back dished out. He put his gun away and turned back to see the woman burying herself in the engine. He walked over to her, placed himself directly behind her with his legs spread enough to be either side of hers, then leaned over to press his chest to her back, hands falling to her hips lightly.

"That wasn't nice." Shane muttered.

"Neither was your trick." Anna shot back, looking over her shoulder at him. "Not exactly protecting and serving if you're drenching the mechanic."

"Well maybe I thought I was providing a service." Shane remarked. His arm dropped then looped around her waist. He straightened up, an action that brought her up as well due to his hold. Anna just seemed curious as she kept her eyes watching him. "Nobody likes behind hot after all. Besides...little bit of water never hurt no one."

"But a lot can drown ya." Anna pointed out, even though she was looking amused now.

"Well, not a problem resuscitating you, should that happen." Shane explained simply. He leaned a little closer, almost near enough to count the gold specks in her green eyes. "All I'd have to do is..."

"Walkers!" Rick's voice, quiet but firm, stretched out towards them and they instantly went on alert. Shane dropped his arm and withdrew his gun, not exactly wanting to use it but ready if he needed to.

"Here, get it!" The cop ordered, pulling the girl around to the side of the car and opening the door. He shoved her inside and pulled a dead body on top of her. He ignored her small whine of disgust as he carefully shut the door and then dropped to the ground to get under the vehicle. He sighed as he laid there, listening to the shuffling and groaning of the undead, watching their feet slide by. They certainly took their time getting by, moving along.

It felt like hours before they finally seemed safe, only to discover that Sophia had taken off.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

"No offence or anything Rick but if I ever figured that one of them kids was gonna run off, some reason I always figured it would be yours." Bo muttered, ducking under a low branch and looking around. She glanced at the Sherriff but got no response from him. She heard the twang of Daryl letting loose and arrow and hurried over to the fallen walker.

"There's flesh..." Rick pointed out, fading off as the trio examined the once living body.

"Ya don't think..." Bo faded off. The answer came in the form of Daryl using his knife and ripping into the things stomach. Rick shuddered and gagged, quickly covering his mouth. Bo felt the colour drain from her face but actually felt a little proud of herself for not gagging.

Way to go medical school training.

"Woodchuck." Daryl muttered, shifting through the remains.

"At least we know." Rick stated, trying for some level of optimism.

"Gonna be dark soon." Daryl mused, wiping his knife clean and looking around. "Get this search going again in the morning, first thing." Rick nodded in agreement. Daryl's eyes drifted over to Bo who was looking around through the trees. Her eyes darting left, right, up and down, taking in everything in every direction, wondering on the little girl's motives.

"Bo?" Rick questioned, eyebrow raising. He got no response as the woman kept up her visual search.

"Bo Bo?" Daryl tried this time. It was fine, him calling her that when they were alone, but in front of other people she would usually snap at him. When that got no response, he sighed and lifted his hand, dropping it heavily onto her shoulder. "Isa..."

"Yeah?" Bo finally reacted, turning her head in his direction.

"We gotta get back to the others." Daryl pointed out. Bo sighed and gave one last look into the trees before nodding and heading back the way they came. Daryl slip his knife back into place before shouldering his crossbow and following with the Sherriff.

"She's...interesting." Rick mused out loud but still quiet enough that only Daryl heard him. The redneck shot a sideways glance his way and grunted in response. "I haven't really been told much about you...and her."

"Whatcha getting at, law man?" Daryl asked, not one for vague and subtly.

"Just...trying to get a better understanding of everyone." Rick explained. He had been witness to Bo's little needle panic back at the CDC but other than that, and this slight moment of vacant thought, she had usually been a happy optimistic person. Going so far as to tease the others in such ways that they ultimately end up smiling even in rough times.

And then of course, there was the pairing of Bo with Daryl. Two very completely different people from what Rick had been told from Lori. His wife had explained that Bo was up state, upper class, med student while Daryl was...well...Daryl. Lori really wasn't able to find a proper term to use. The more Rick observed, the more he agreed with her in the sense that there was really no solid sort of description for the hunter.

"Ain't nothing much to figure out." Daryl shot out. Rick looked at him but the other man's eyes were locked firmly on the female leading them. More specifically, they were locked on her ass. There was a tone of finality in his voice which kept the Sherriff silent for the remainder of the walk.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

Rick swore he had never been happier to have Anna around then when she had stepped in and assisted him with the enraged mother. Carol was all set for blaming him for Sophia's disappearance, getting on his case about him leaving her hidden while he drew away the walkers. Anna had jumped in, led the mother away and silently managed to calm her down.

Rick wasn't the only one that observed this with a sense of admiration, Shane was quite astonished as well. It was something that kept both of them thinking for a while afterwards. Rick left Lori and Carl asleep by the car to go and check on Anna as she persisted to work on the RV, even in the dark. As he approached the vehicle, he heard her softly laughing at something and then the sound of Shane's voice made him pause while he was still unseen.

"You didn't." Shane laughed, clearly amused by something.

"Yep, buck naked." Anna remarked. A wavering beam of light swept off the RV and Rick came to the conclusion that Shane was holding a flashlight for the woman. "It was just wild."

"And they got ya?" Shane asked.

"Sadly yes, spent the night in a cell with this lovely little woman who offered to teach me how to do drag make up." Anna explained, getting a louder laugh from the officer. "Least, you know...I think it was a woman."

"Wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't." Shane attempted assurance, even as he was trying to control his laughter.

Rick leaned on the side of the RV and thought things over. Anna was becoming a very good friend of his and of course, Shane was his best friend. He was certain though, after having Lori, all while crying, confess to having slept with the man, that Shane held some deeper type emotions for his wife. Although, saying that, Rick suddenly felt a little foolish, not to mention actually guilty. If Shane and Anna were getting nicer, closer, that was a good thing. It was pointless to have any possible feuding in a group where everyone relied on everyone else. And if Shane and Anna were getting closer, then Rick should be glad that Shane did not, in fact, have those deeper type emotions for Lori.

"So, apart from doing crazy dares which oddly, more often than not, involved you stripping away your clothes...what did you do before the world went to hell?" Shane's voice brought Rick out of his inner musings and he listened carefully, surprising himself that he didn't already know this answer.

"I don't wanna say." Anna replied, suddenly gaining an almost embarrassed tone to her voice.

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad." Shane prodded. Rick heard small noises, a clinking here, a slight shuffling there, and leaned a little closer to hear a ruffling noise followed by Shane's voice at a quieter level. "I'm not gonna tell anyone."

"I was...a cleaning lady at a hotel." Anna confessed with a sigh. "And not some big old fancy one. More like one where you would not want to know the things I had to clean."

"So how'd you learn this car stuff then?" Shane asked.

"I took auto classes in high school and did a year of college for it." Anna explained, tinkering away once more. "You gotta lift that light higher."

"You dropped out?" Shane guessed, his voice getting quieter again, causing his partner to have to move even closer still to continue listening.

"Had to, my dad died and I couldn't afford everything." Anna muttered. Rick suddenly felt horrible. Some friend he was if he was only learning all of this now. Why had he never bothered to ask her about any of this? Had he really been so caught up in his own issues and finding Carl and Lori that he hadn't bothered asking about the woman who was helping him?

He supposed that explained why she always quieted down on the topic of family though.

Things had gotten quiet for nearly a minute and Rick chanced a look around the vehicle, not entirely sure why he was just spying and eavesdropping. He was actually caught off guard by the sight of Shane standing directly behind Anna, one arm around her waist while the other was lifted over them to shine the flashlight down at the engine, and his head resting on her shoulder. Anna didn't even seem to mind as she slowed her working to almost nothing. In fact, it was nothing, she was done. One of her hands was resting on the rim of the hood while her other hand was grasping Shane's as it rested on her hip.

They were close...very close.

Well...good for them.

Rick nodded to himself as he slowly tore his eyes off the sight and made his way back to his family. Yeah...good for them.

* * *

Okay so that got more of Anna out but don't worry, there will be more of Bo soon enough. She's going to get one on one time with Rick, probably next chapter, and of course they'll be talking.

And what does everyone think I should do in regards to Shane, Rick and Anna? When I started this story, I didn't like Shane but now he's actually grown on me after some things I've read and all that. I really do not want to be creating any love triangles but like I've said so many other times, I don't like Lori so you can actually expect her to be going away at some point. If people like Shane, I might not kill him. I also might actually have another person in mind to come into this story.


	5. The Doctor Is In

**The Doctor Is In  
**

I'm glad I'm not the only one that dislikes Lori lol. As for the Shane issue, I think I'll be keeping him around. Whether or not he gets involved with anyone is up for debate right now.

* * *

Bo had decided, after some careful thinking, that she wanted to know if Rick knew about his wife and best friend. At first she didn't care but she had been witness to several interactions and wondered vaguely of what could possibly be going through the Sheriff's head. So when the group split up after coming across a church on their hunt for Sophia, Bo made sure she stuck around with Rick.

It just ended up sucking that Shane and Carl were around as well. It was almost like Shane knew what the blonde was thinking about and didn't want to get it spread to the one person (hopefully) who's opinion truly mattered to the officer.

Thankfully Carl was a good distraction.

And maybe not so thankfully, Rick seemed to want to talk to Bo as much as she wanted to talk to him.

Apparently not for the same reason though.

"How did you manage to end up in this group?" Rick asked, unwittingly cutting off the woman's attempt to vocalize a completely different topic.

"Oh...uh...I sort of came along with Glenn." Bo responded, trying to remember back to the first few days of their current apocalypse. "I ended up picking him up during my own escape."

"That was noble of you." Rick commented.

"Yeah well the kid was limping and I wasn't about to just leave him." Bo explained. Did she just get defensive about helping someone even though that was her job? Huh...Daryl must have been rubbing off on her. "Hey do you.."

"Lori says you're a med student." Rick spoke at the same time then paused, glancing apologetically at the blonde. "Sorry...just...continue."

"Kind of glad you brought her up." Bo muttered. The Sheriff tilted his head but didn't quite face her, watching his son more as the little group came across a small clearing. Shane and Carl were ahead of the other two but still close enough to hear the conversation. Carl was mesmerized by the sight of a large male deer standing in the clearing.

"Really?" Rick asked quietly, not wanting to spook away the nervous creature.

"Yeah." Bo whispered, crouching down. She took stock on their surroundings, the way Daryl had taught her. Momentarily distracted by wondering if they could possibly kill the deer and bring it back to the others for something to eat. "I've been sort of thinking...about things."

"What kind of things?" Rick asked, now turning his head completely to look at the blonde woman next to him.

"I don't exactly wanna be the bearer for bad news and I ain't trying to start something up here." Bo explained quickly, getting her main point across first before she said anything else. "But I was just starting to wonder...did you know that Lori and Shane..."

She never got to finish as a got shot rang out. The deer hit the ground...but so did Carl.

"CARL!" Rick shouted, bolting to his son. Shane went in the suspected direction of the shot while Bo quickly joined the distraught father.

"Oh fuck." The woman muttered. She waved off Rick's hands and pulled at the edges of the shot hole in the child's shirt to get a clearer view of the damage. She winced at the blood and tried to wipe what she could away.

"Can you do something?" Rick asked, hopefully.

"I don't have anything with me for this!" Bo explained, beginning to feel just as panicked as the man with her.

"I...I know where he can get help!" A large man that Shane had suddenly pulled over uttered his statement in fear.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

"So...are we going to have a lot of issues?" Anna asked, looking around as she travelled through the woods with Lori.

"What?" Lori snapped, frowning. Anna had seen the look on the woman's face when it had been announced that the two of them would be getting a direction on their own to search for the young missing girl.

"Look, Lori, despite what you are probably thinking, I don't get involved with men in highly committed relationships...or really just any relationships for that matter." Anna explained. She went for the straight forward approach, deciding it to just be easier then attempting subtlety. "Hell, I've turned down guys I've liked because I had a friend with the biggest of crushes on that guy."

"I don't even know what you're talking about." Lori muttered. The other woman sighed and decided against saying anymore.

It wouldn't have lasted long if she had tried anyways. There was only a few seconds of silence before there was a scream that sounded suspiciously like Andrea. The dark haired women went running in the direction of the scream, only to find their blonde comrade on the ground and a young woman with short hair sitting on top of a horse by her.

"Who are you?" Anna asked as the rest of the group gathered around.

"My name's Maggie and I'm looking for Lori." The girl on the horse explained, her eyes drifting around the group for the woman that fit the description she was given. They landed on two women standing next to each other who both looked as they could have been who she was looking for. Lori stepped forward, confusion crossing her features.

"What do you want?" The woman asked.

"There's been an accident...Carl's been shot." Maggie answered. "You need to come with me."

"Is he okay?" Anna suddenly asked, worry etched on her face at the thought of the young boy being in danger. Of course, he was always in danger in this world but hearing about him getting shot made things worse.

"My dad and...Bo...are working on him." Maggie explained, struggling momentarily to remember the name of the woman back at the farm. She held down an arm to the mother and after a moment's hesitation, Lori took it and got onto the horse. Maggie swung out her other hand and pointed. "Just down that way is our farm. Y'all can go there." With that said, she twisted her horse around and took off back the way she came.

"Damn kids getting themselves in trouble." Daryl muttered. Eyes turned to him, Carol shooting the redneck a harsh look. "Get on back to the road!"

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

Bo rubbed her head, exhausted and more than a little ticked off. She was regretting telling Maggie to get Lori. The mother had done nothing but badger the people working on saving her son and when Bo had finally snapped at her to either shut the fuck up or get the fuck out, Lori had withdrawn and taken to talking quietly to Rick about Carl possibly being better off dead.

"He wants to live Lori!" Rick stated firmly. "When he woke up...he talked about the deer. He's focused on life."

"Y'all gotta make a decision here, are we saving this boy or not?" Bo asked finally. "We gotta do this without the respirator and full support is gonna be a nice thing here."

"Do it." Lori whispered.

"For someone who had no problem jumping to bed with him, you certainly got no faith in Shane." Bo stated, locking eyes with the brunette woman. While the blonde was no where near the officer's biggest fan, she couldn't deny that he had kept the group safe. He was an asshole, yeah, but that didn't mean that she had doubted his abilities to getting what was needed, even if he was pushing it.

Bo left the couple with the revelation that the affair was far from secret as she returned to Hershel's side to start the process of operating.

"I GOT IT!" Shane's triumphant call was accompanied by the sounds of the pickup truck's engine. There was a collective sigh of relief as the officer made his way inside to deliver the machine.

When Shane stepped outside to join the parents, he knew that something had gotten out. Lori wouldn't look at him and Rick just cast a confused and mildly betrayed look to his friend.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

Anna walked out of the farmhouse and over to where Rick was angrily swinging an axe to chop up wood. She had just finished talking to Shane, finding out that he had left behind Otis and even assisting him in shaving his hair, not asking about the spot that seemed to have had the hair ripped clean out. He was a bit too shaken up as he told the tale to her and she wondered what he was leaving out but didn't push the issue.

"What's up cowboy?" Anna asked, getting closer to the person who was probably her closest friend these days. Her hands stuffed deep into her pockets as she watched the man tense up as his solitude was shattered. "Did you want to be alone?"

"No." Rick muttered, sighing. His shoulders slumped and he dropped the axe before looking at Anna. Her hair, which had once been a frizzy mess of knots and dirt, looked much smoother and cleaner, falling down in waves as she tilted her head to study her friend. "Shane and Lori were sleeping together."

"Oh." Anna wasn't sure how to respond to that. "Are they...still?"

"Lori says no, not since I've been back." Rick explained. He looked over the stack of wood he had already chopped up. Anna bit her lip, trying to come up with something to help him, but got herself stuck as her brain finally took to realizing that the man was topless. She blinked her green eyes, taking in the muscles over his abs, chest and arms. Her head slowly tilted the other way, eyes zooming in on the scar remaining from his shot wound.

So when did he actually become attractive? Well technically he was always attractive but Anna had always had something else to focus on before now. It wasn't like she hadn't seen him topless before but her attention had always stuck to his wound rather than exploring the expanse of his chest. Now however, she was taking in everything as it was covered in a fine sheen of sweat.

"Anna?" Rick asked suddenly, snapping the woman's attention up to his face. She only then realized that he had said something and even moved closer to her. She blinked a few times then looked apologetic as he laughed slightly. "Guess I can get a little boring, huh?"

"No! Not at all!" Anna insisted. "Just a lot of things going on. My mind tends to wander a lot."

"So I've noticed." Rick joked. Anna smiled softly as she looked around. Her fingers toying with a loose string in her pocket as she wondered about what to discuss next. "I never really asked about your past, did I?"

"You were worried about your family, it's perfectly fine." Anna insisted, keeping her smile in place to add truth to her words.

"I could have asked...about your dad." Rick admitted, coming clean about having heard her conversation with Shane without actually saying those words. Anna paused for a moment then nodded, figuring it out on her own. "How did he die?"

"He got really sick, really fast." Anna explained. She lifted a hand to push her hair behind her ear as her eyes drifted once more down to the wide chest of the man before her. "It was all just a big blur and by the end of it, I was in debt and just about homeless. My dad was really one of those live for the moment types and didn't really plan too far ahead so his hospital bills and funeral costs took a lot."

"Were you still...in debt...by the time this came around?" Rick asked, now intrigued in this woman's story.

"Oh yeah." Anna laughed. "Sort of...glad for this disaster. Don't have to deal with creditors anymore. Or annoying people at the hotel, or my boss."

"Freedom at a cost, huh." Rick mused. Anna nodded in complete agreement. "I've been pretty awful with you."

"What? No you haven't." Anna tried to protest.

"Yes I have." Rick admitted, so strongly that it silenced the woman. "I never asked anything about you. Just how you got where I found you and your name. I know what you're like, but that's just from watching you all this time. I know nothing about you. Who you are, who you were...I asked once about family when you brought up that notion of the gut tingling GPS thing but other than that...nothing."

"You were worried about your son." Anna pointed out, trying to ease the man's conscious.

"That's not an excuse to ignore the person who's been by your side through the whole disaster." Rick stated firmly. Anna sighed, her head tilting once more as she observed her friend's face and the guilt it showed.

"Well if you're that torn up about it, you can just start making it up to me now." The woman joked, finally earning a smile from the Sheriff. She laughed, lifting a hand and patting at his chest before resting her fingers over his heart without realizing it. "You stink."

"I've been a little too busy to consider much bathing lately." Rick defended.

"Still stink." Anna pointed out. "Nobody likes a smelly law man."

"Or so you say." Rick joked. Anna just grinned and moved up on her toes, ready to plant a kiss on his cheek. His head turned and he went to say something but instead caught her lips with his.

Both parties paused for several moments, their minds coming to screeching halts. Rick's hands were suddenly on Anna's waist and he manoeuvred her back against a tree. Her hands grasped at the sides of his head before moving to bury her fingers into his hair. She wiggled against him, caught between the hard rough surface of the tree and the hard body of the man. Her movements elicited a groan from deep in his throat as he pulled her hips harder against his own. Her teeth caught at his lower lip as his fingertips bruised her waist.

And then their brains rebooted and caught up with their bodies and they froze in their embrace. The cool metal of Rick's wedding band almost felt like a scorch mark against the bare skin of Anna's hip as her shirt had ridden up in the exchange. Her hands, slowly and shakily, pulled free of his hair as her eyes opened, confusion and shock riddling them. Rick took several steps back, casting one look up to her green eyes before dropping his own to the ground.

"So uh...I'm just going to umm..." He rambled.

"Yeah...I should...go...join the planning...for...finding Sophia." Anna muttered, lifting her hand to the back of her neck as she turned her head in order to only see Rick in her peripheral.

"Right, yes...Sophia...missing...I need to...see Carl." Rick stuttered out. Anna nodded her head rapidly before she quickly walked away, pulling at her shirt to cover up any revealed skin.

What...the hell...was that?

* * *

So Anna's sort of just going to be friends with Shane. Kind of showing him that he's human or something. I know what I'm thinking with them but I don't quite know how to say it. Sigh..

I really do need to get more into Bo. Gotta remember that while she's already established into the group, I haven't really given her much descriptions.


	6. Visions of Brothers

**Visions Of Brothers  
**

So I watched the first episode of season 3 (I know it's a couple of episodes in but I only got access to the first one so far) and I loved it! Lol, first full episode of the show I've ever watched. I know enough about each of the characters though and my hatred for Lori just stays as it is (silently does cheers for the cold shoulder Rick gives).

* * *

Bo watched Lori as the brunette woman seemed to become more and more high strung since the group moved to the farm. When Maggie and Glenn had gone for a supply run, Lori had intercepted Glenn both ways and some mystery thing had been exchanged on the return. It wasn't so much a mystery to the med student, she had noticed the signs, taken in the way the other woman acted and did mental math in her head at a time when she had gotten bored.

The most obvious father was Shane. Rick and Lori had, without a doubt, slept together since his return, but the signs the woman was showing suggesting she was much further along than those times could have provided. So unless there was sex just before Rick went into his coma...

"How long since Daryl's been gone?" Bo looked up to see Rick standing nearby. She gave a shrug, having not exactly thought about the man she shared a tent with. Now that she did think about him, she was noticing that he had been gone almost the whole day and a frown crossed her face. Normally she didn't mind or worry when he was gone. The sudden clench in her stomach bugged her.

"I...don't know." Bo answered, frowning more.

"This happen often?" Rick asked, lowering himself down to the log next to the blonde woman.

"Well he usually went off on hunting trips on his own." Bo explained. "Be gone for days sometimes. This ain't exactly a new thing. I mean...he's still hunting, just not for something to kill." She sighed and stood up, grabbing up her gun and knife. "Guess I better go find him."

"You sure that's needed?" Rick asked. He looked up at her, shielding his eyes with his hand.

"I ain't usually worrying about him and now I am." Bo pointed out. "That don't sit right with me."

"You can't go through there by yourself." Rick shot back, standing up.

"I can go faster on my own." Bo assured him.

"He's on a horse, Bo." Rick argued.

"Great, easier tracks to follow." Bo stated. Rick gave her a disapproving frown and she sighed, suddenly feeling like a child and not liking it. "Worry about your buddy and his closeness to them women in your life." The blonde jerked her head in the direction of the vehicles. Anna was leaning over the open engine of the truck, Shane leaning in on the side, holding a flashlight for her in the fading evening light. When Rick turned his head to look, Bo bolted, her steps light enough to allow her to get a fair distance ahead before the Sheriff noticed. He made a move to go after her but by that point she was already within the trees.

Sighing heavily, Rick looked around at everyone and went inside to check on Carl.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

Daryl opened his eyes slowly at the sounds of footsteps. They didn't seem to be shuffling like a walker but that still didn't mean he could go on lying there like he was.

"Why don't ya pull that arrow out, dummy?" Merle's voice sounded off in the younger Dixon's head. Daryl forced his eyes to focus on the figure crouching over him. He wasn't sure if it was real or if his mind was playing tricks on him but there was his brother. "You could bind your wound better."

"Merle..." Daryl muttered, a slight grin falling on his face. He got a bright smile back from the older man.

"What's going on here? You taking a siesta or something?" Merle asked, sarcasm dripping all through his tone.

"Had a shitty day, bro." Daryl muttered. His throat felt raw and his voice sounded strange to him. Maybe he had really hit his head.

"Want me to get ya a pillow?" Merle asked. His grin was still in place. "Maybe rub your feet?"

"Screw you." Daryl grumbled. Hell, if he wanted this bullshit, he would have just stayed with the others and pissed off Shane.

"You're the one screwed by the looks of it." Merle pointed out. "All them years I spent trying to make a man out of you, this is what I get?"

"_Daryl?"_

"Look at ya, lying in the dirt. You're gonna die out here, little brother." Merle mocked. Daryl blinked slowly, his vision wavering again as he turned his head to try and look around. Where had that other voice come from? "And for what?"

"Girl." Daryl whispered. He swallowed nothing but air in the attempt to ease his throat. "Lost a little girl."

"_Daryl come on!"_

"So you got a thing for little girls now?" Merle teased. Daryl tried to counter but his voice just wouldn't work. "Cuz I noticed you ain't out looking for ol' Merle no more. You split man. Let out first chance you got."

"You let out, all you had to do was wait." Daryl rasped out, his throat screaming at him in agony at the sounds it didn't want to produce. "We went back for ya, Rick and I. We did right by him."

"_Daryl?"_

"This the same Rick that cuffed me to the rooftop in the first place?" Merle asked. Daryl's eyes drifted around, vision clearing slowly. He could see movement at the top of the embankment he had fallen into. The voice kept calling out, worried. "Forced me to cut off my own hand? This who you talking about here? You his bitch now?"

"I ain't no body's bitch." Daryl protested.

"Now that ain't true." Merle countered, with a grin. "What about the Doc? You been her bitch from the minute she stepped foot in your life. You let her in everywhere. Hell, I bet you do everything she asks. You know what she thinks of you right?" He leaned down closer to get into his brother's face. "You're just some dirty little redneck who satisfies an itch. She probably went to you cuz the copper was already banging around with someone else. Picking up on someone that'll do the work for her."

"_Daryl? Daryl! Hang on!"_

"They're laughing at ya behind your back, you know that don't ya?" Merle mocked. Daryl tried to focus on the figure that was standing at the top of the embankment now. "Got news for ya son. One of these days, they're gonna scrap you off their heels like you was dog shit. And your little doctor girlfriend, is probably gonna get in bed with Rick." Daryl turned his head, his vision fuzzing again, his eyes starting to close. Something landed on his stomach, bringing him back to what was happening around him. "Hey! They ain't your kin! Your blood! Now you listen to me." Something moved down the embankment at a quick speed as Merle grabbed at Daryl's chin.

"_HEY!"_

"Ain't nobody ever gonna care about you, cept me little brother." Merle almost sounded like he was being sincere at that moment. There was a snarling noise somewhere followed by thuds. "And ain't nobody ever will." He patted the younger man's stomach as he started moving back. "Now come on, get up on your feet before I have to kick your teeth in." Merle was gone from his brother's sight and for a moment, everything blurred together. Daryl blinked a couple of times then jumped slightly when blonde hair came into his sight.

"Whoa, hey, relax." Bo's voice, accompanied by a slightly relieved laugh and soft hands touching at his side, brought Daryl's mind into clarity. "Oh geez Daryl, what you gone and done here?"

"What are you doing?" Daryl muttered weakly.

"Helping you." Bo stated obviously. She reached around him and there was a snapping noise. "Now just...deep breath." Before he could ask, Bo had wrapped her hand around the arrow in his side and was pulling it through. Daryl grunted in pain and gritted his teeth, fingers digging into the dirt. He looked around, spotting a couple of dead walkers. "Jesus Christ Daryl."

"Move." Daryl grumbled. He pushed Bo back and slowly got himself to his feet. He stumbled slightly and pushed away the blonde when she attempted to help him. "Don't need any help!"

"Okay, fine." Bo shot back, unhappily. She crossed her arms and watched him carefully but made no move to assist. She frowned as she examined his bloodied state and forced herself to stay put as he started making his way back up ridge. He was muttering things to himself and she worried about what had happened to him. Every time he stumbled in his climb, she would twitch, wanting to move to help him but not wanting to get yelled at again. When he finally got to the top and dropped out of sight, she quickly went after him only to find him lying on the ground on his stomach, head turned to the side.

"Yeah, you better run." Daryl muttered at nothing. Bo frowned and put her knife away through her belt before going to the man. She grabbed his arm and hauled him over. He struggled weakly but she slapped him and he went still. "Damn woman."

"Shut the fuck up!" Bo muttered harshly. She pulled him up and looped his arm over her shoulders. "I'm helping you, whether you want help or not. Now I don't know what the hell is going on in that there head of yours but it better not be coming out or I will slap you again."

"Bossy little bitch." Daryl grumbled. Bo rolled her eyes and they started walking slowly. They were silent, Bo keeping an eye on their surroundings as she nearly dragged Daryl along with her. She constantly glanced down at his side, taking mental notes on the wound type and how much blood he was losing. The smell would lure in unwanted company, that much she knew for sure.

They made it to the church by nightfall and Bo wasn't exactly gentle when she put Daryl into a pew. She got the back door barricaded but frowned at all the windows. She sat down and looked over her ammo then over the crossbow. She was thankful for having watched Daryl perform checks of his favourite weapon several times. That was the only way anyone would have been able to know anything about it.

"Okay big baby, let's see the damage." Bo declared, standing up. She moved over to the half conscious hunter and opened the buttons on his shirt. She perched herself on the back of the pew in front of him, her feet coming up and resting either side of the man as she leaned forward to examine the hole that seemed to have just barely missed his ribs and lung.

"I'm fine, back off." Daryl complained.

"You ain't fine." Bo shot back.

"Why do you care?" Daryl asked.

"It's what I do." Bo remarked, trying to get a better look. Daryl pushed at her hands, bringing the doctor's bright blue eyes up to his face. He still looked a little hazy but he seemed determined.

"I meant..about me." Daryl remarked. Bo just blinked and looked at him. "Just admit it. You don't. I'm just...just...convenient for ya."

"What?" Bo sounded incredulous as she tried thinking. She couldn't figure out where this was coming from. After months and everything else. She didn't know what to even think, let only try to understand. "Where is this coming from?"

"Just admit it." Daryl shoots back.

"No! What the hell am I admitting?" Bo argued, frowning. She rested her elbows on her knees and let her hands hang between her legs as she stared at the redneck in front of her.

"You know damn well." Daryl ground out.

"Obviously I don't!" Bo snapped.

"You just went for me cuz Shane was already at it with Lori." Daryl declared. Bo narrowed her eyes, an indescribable anger settling in. "He's the big man, I was just..."

"You honestly think that I would have gone for Shane?" Bo asked. She shook her head and huffed out a heavy breath. "You fucking moron!" She dropped her feet to the ground and moved away from him.

"Yeah, I'm the moron." Daryl argued, getting to his feet uneasily. "You're the one that just invited yourself in on MY tent!"

"Oh so you choose now to bitch about it?" Bo shot back, looking at him. "This some stupid ass control thing? You ain't getting enough of it or something?"

"You know, you're a lousy girl." Daryl grumbled. Bo just raised an eyebrow at the lame comeback. "You ain't ever do the girl stuff."

"You are way too fucking delirious from all the blood loss there, Dixon." Bo pointed out. "What girl stuff am I supposed to be doing? You want me to like Carol? Or what about Andrea? Or god forbid, I be like Lori! Those the types you want me to be? You want me to just throw myself at you and cling to you then bitch at everyone else for my mistakes?" She paused then ran her hands over her face and through her hair before shaking her head. "No, you know what, I ain't getting into this with you!"

"Cuz I'm right." Daryl pointed out.

"You are so far from right, it's pathetic!" Bo shot back. "How about we just stay quiet till morning then get back to the farm where the grumpy old man can fix you up because obviously, I'm not good for that."

Bo picked up her gun again and sat back down, eyes trained in the door. Daryl had the sense at least not to piss her off further while she was armed. He sat down with a pained sigh and frowned. He made the attempt to stay awake but succumbed to the darkness of unconscious after a few moments.

When he woke up, Bo's button up shirt was tied around his middle to ease the flow of blood and she was pacing up and down the aisle. They remained quiet for the rest of the morning back to the farm.

* * *

So I do have a plan here, Daryl and Bo arguing, all that. I got ideas for the rest of the stuff, particularly what'll happen after the barn incident. I do plan on getting everyone to the prison and probably make an attempt at following season 3, who knows how I feel by that point. But let me know what you guys want, I'm always open for suggestions.


	7. We're Falling Apart

**We're Falling Apart  
**

And now I'm caught up on season 3. Rick is a serious badass! I love it!

* * *

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Shane's voice made Anna turn around. She had been watching Daryl storm around looking more miserable then ever before. Ever since Bo had returned with him and Hershel had patched up the hunter, things seemed to have fallen into a much worse shape then it was before. Bo, much to the displeasure of Lori but because of Rick's asking, had turned her attention for the last couple of hours to Carl, teaching him a few things that she had learned in medical school. After the first half hour, she had gone into the woods and come back a while later with a dead walker body and had started teaching the boy some anatomy tips. That hadn't exactly gone over well with Hershel and his family either after everyone had found out about the walkers the Greenes had locked up in their barn.

"Uh...sure." Anna agreed, rising from her spot on the ground and slipping a knife through her belt. Shane looked grateful and the two of them circled around the property quietly. The silence started to grate on her nerves after a while and she tilted her head curiously as she examined the deputy out the corner of her eye. "Are you okay? Was there something you wanted to talk about?"

"Lori's pregnant." Shane spat out instantly. They stopped walking and Anna turned to him. "She's...she's pregnant. It's gotta be mine...right? I mean...with everything..."

"Do you want it to be?" Anna asked. "I mean, this is your best friend's wife, Shane. I realize you probably love her, or at least think you do, and obviously with everything going on, following some obvious trouble that they've been having in their marriage, things aren't so great for them, but...he's still your best friend."

"Rick can't handle the world these days." Shane muttered, although he barely sounded convinced himself. Anna just watched him. "And...she said...she said even if it was mine, it's not going to be mine."

"You and Rick need to work together." Anna stated firmly. She held up her hands when Shane opened his mouth to argue and he sighed, keeping quiet but frowning. "You have different views on things. You always have and obviously it worked well before. You need to work together and you need to stay friends. I've heard a lot of stories of the things you guys have accomplished before together and I'd hate to never get to see something like that because of some woman and the state of the world."

"It's not that easy." Shane pointed out. "We don't agree anymore."

"Listen to him." Anna instructed. "If you don't like what he thinks then at least tell him and offer another suggestion. Overall though, you guys need to reconcile. Sit, talk, relive your old days, rediscovery how you were friends in the first place. Get over Lori."

Shane paused and frowned at the last bit of advice then sighed a heavy breath. Anna reached out and patted his shoulder then let her hand rest there and rubbed her thumb back and forward a few times in a comforting gesture. Shane lifted his hand and patted hers before removing it from his shoulder with a slight smile of gratitude.

"There's something I gotta do." Shane muttered. Anna tilted her head, mildly curious. "It ain't gonna be good but...I really think it has to be done."

"Okay." Anna agreed, nodding. "If you can back it up...I'll back you on it." Shane looked mildly surprised for a moment then smiled and nodded. They returned to the camp and Anna hurried off to find Rick. She followed his voice through the woods a bit, listening to the fact that he was likely just ahead of her.

"If your folks are gonna stay in my farm, you all need to follow my rules." Hershel's voice joined Rick's as well as the sound of groaning walkers. Anna frowned slightly and paused when her foot fell on a twig and snapped it.

"Who's out there?" Rick asked cautiously.

"Sorry." Anna replied, stepping out to them. "Kinda saw you guys coming this way and I really really needed to ask Rick something." Hershel frowned but Rick nodded, giving Anna a semi smile.

"Can it wait?" The sheriff asked. Anna glanced at the walkers and nodded, not entirely sure if she liked the situation that seemed to be about to talk place. She stood back and watched with fearful eyes as Rick made his progress at capturing and subduing the walkers. She shot a glare at Hershel as the old man stood there with a critiquing look. He was hopelessly deluded and she didn't think it was going to work out well for anyone.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

Bo rubbed her arm across her forehead before grabbing the ankles of another body. The group was shaken up after the impromptu demolition of the barn walkers which was ended with a shock as Sophia stumbled out of the barn as one of them, leading to Rick shooting her in the head. Everyone had gone off different ways, the dead Greene's were taken to get buried, as was Sophia (despite Carol's statement of the girl no longer being her daughter in that state). The rest Bo was helping T-Dog move in order to burn.

She had been surprised. After Shane's big speech that had started the massacre, he shut up afterwards once he was slapped by Maggie for getting on Hershel's case about endangering everyone with the walkers in the barn. Shane had just looked at the young woman in surprise then walked off. He was currently sitting in front of his tent, examining his gun. Rick was in what looked to be a quiet argument with Anna. Both of them threw looks and gestures in Shane's direction and after a while, it looked to be that Anna was winning. It seemed like the argument went on hold as Maggie suddenly called outside to Rick and the sheriff went to the house to see what was wrong.

"You all good here T?" Bo asked, straightening up and sighing.

"Yeah I got it Bo, thanks." T-Dog replied with a smile. The blonde returned it and went towards the farm house to see how the girls were. She had made friends of sort with Beth and since the girl's undead mother had attempted to attack her, Bo wanted to make sure she was getting looked after.

"He gave up drinking the day I was born." Maggie explained as Bo walked through the door.

"I'll go into town, see if he's there." Rick assured the young woman. "Won't be a problem, just stay with your sister."

"What's going on?" Bo asked quietly, approaching Rick and Glenn who looked ready to head out.

"Hershel's not here but the girls think he's gone to the bar in town." Glenn explained. He paused and considered the blonde for a moment before looking at her hopefully. "You know anything about talking to drunk people?" Bo just gave him a smile and a nod.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

"You have to go and help them!" Lori demanded, staring at the hunter as he casually worked on his arrows.

"I don't have to do anything, woman." Daryl stated simply.

"So you're not even worried about Bo?" Lori asked, a snarky tone to her voice. Daryl thought for a moment that maybe if she had been nice about it, he might have considered. Bringing up Bo darkened his expression somewhat. He hadn't said a work to her since the night at the church and she had been equally as quiet. He had been allowed a bed in the house for the first night but the next he was back out, discovering that Bo had bunked in with Andrea. The other blonde had looked at the hunter with a confused expression as if she wanted to ask where her new tent mate had come from but Daryl had just turned away and ignored it.

Just as he was ignoring the questions and demands coming from the brunette before him.

"Lori, relax." Anna stated, walking over. "Rick and Glenn are good shots and Bo's just as good, the three of them will be fine."

"He needs to go after them!" Lori declared. Anna sighed and rubbed her head.

"Now you listen here!" Daryl snapped, getting to his feet. "I don't NEED to do anything. You best be backing your ass away from me before I ram one of these up in it!" He thrust the arrow he was working on into the pregnant woman's face, making her jump back in fear. Anna grabbed the other brunette's arm and pulled her away from the angry redneck.

"Somebody has to go after them!" Lori snapped, yanking her arm out of Anna's hold. "They can't just..."

"They haven't even been gone for an hour!" Anna cut in harshly. "Will you just chill the fuck out! Jesus Christ woman, you go into a wild enough streak there and you're going to freak out the whole damn camp. Causing a fuss like you are when they've barely even had time to get into the town just makes you look like a lunatic."

Lori was silent, staring in bewilderment at what was getting said to her. She frowned, narrowing her eyes to glare harshly at the woman who was vastly becoming an apparent confidant to both Rick and Shane and, in her mind anyways, driving both of them away from her.

"Maybe instead of demanding people to go after the ones who actually know what they're doing, you should pay attention to that kid of yours." Anna pointed out, crossing her arms. "Afterall, he did just see his only friend as a walker, that might have done something to him." With that said, Anna turned and walked away, leaving the pregnant woman to just stare after her. At that moment, Anna really couldn't care less what the other woman did anymore just as long as it didn't disturb anybody else. It would have made more sense if the trio had been gone for several hours but not after only a short amount of time.

She was surprised to find Carl and Shane sitting with each other, a piece of wood on the ground between them, holding cards while both of guys held a few in their hands. Shane looked beyond bored, his cards in one hand, his head in the other, elbow resting on his knee as he glanced at the twelve year old.

"Got a six?" Carl asked, apparently just as bored as the adult.

"Go...fish." Shane muttered.

"This is sad." Anna pointed out, walking over and sitting down with them. "Why don't you guys play something else?"

"Like what?" Carl asked. He looked hopefully at the woman. She smiled at him and gathered the cards from them before shuffling them and setting everything up.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

"I promised your daughter I'd bring you back." Rick pointed out, sighing. Bo kept her eyes on Hershel and wondered just how much booze he had consumed so far.

"Like you promised that little girl?" Hershel asked. He turned in his seat and looked at Rick. "There is no hope. You know it now, like I do, don't you? There is no hope for any of us."

"Okay, the pity party is great and all but this is helping no one." Bo stepped in, tired of the men doing things their way. "Look you guys, hope or no hope, whether you think you can do it or not, all those people back at the farm, they rely on you. You need to show them that there's a point to all of this, all the running, all the living. You can't go giving up once you start realizing that things are hard." All eyes fell to her and the med student just sighed and put her hands on her hips. She took a deep breath and readied up her most stern expression, one she only used in certain situations. "Now...we can all sit here, drinking away our pain and sorrow, or we can suck it up, put on the big boy panties, and face the world and beat down what it throws at us."

"Big boy panties?" Glenn asked, bewildered. Out of the whole group, he had known Bo the longest, just for the fact that they had joined the group together after she picked him up when hell broke loose. That didn't mean that he was any closer to understanding her anymore than the rest of them were.

"Just work with me on this, okay?" Bo stated with a heavy sigh. Rick couldn't help but smile, a small feeling of warmth and some sense of pride going through him as he surveyed Bo. She looked at him and smiled back, apparently happy that she met some sort of approval with him.

"Girl makes...a point." Hershel finally agreed. He picked up his last drink and paused before dumping it out and rising to his feet. "Let's go home."

None of them had the time to move before the door flew open and two men walked in.

* * *

So this got a few things covered in it. Managed this one in about an hour. Since I'm turning Shane in a different direction, a lot of things for the next for episode stuff is gonna be different. I have a few different scenarios in my head for things to happen so we'll see how stuff goes before I make my decisions.


	8. The Art Of Surviving

**The Art of Surviving  
**

Okay, I lied. Found out that while I'm only on episode 3 of the new season, it's a couple of episodes ahead of me. Damn On Demand for not being up to date! Oh well, I'm still just in season 2 here lol.

* * *

Lori opened her eyes to sounds of growling and yelled in fear at the sight of a walker trying to push it's face through the broken glass of the overturned car. She struggled back away from it and looked around for anything she could use to beat it. She pulled free the broken gear shift and rammed it into the eye socket of the walker before it managed to reach into her. She took several deep breathed then climbed out of the vehicle, keeping her eyes on the dead walker.

She screamed again when another walker came behind her and grabbed her. She twisted and turned, nearly gagging at the smell of decay and rot coming from the creature. She got away and fell to the ground, crawling backwards. The walker was on top of her quickly, grabbing at her legs, trying to pull it's meal back to it. It took a hubcap to the side of the head and fell over. Lori got back to her feet and looked around, desperate by now.

She spotted the hand gun in the car and rushed back to get it. The growling and snapping noises behind her informed her of the company she had. She fell into the car and grabbed up the gun then turned around to come face to face with the walker. She held out the gun and pulled the trigger, firing a bullet into the walker's head and dropping it's dead body to the ground.

Lori shakily got out of the car and looked around, fearing more creatures would be lumbering her way. There was a sound of shuffling leaves from the trees and she whipped around, gun aimed. A figure stumbled out from the foliage, looking lost and confused and very very dirty. It was female, with very short greying hair. Lori paused as she took in the person and slowly lowered her weapon, moving carefully towards the newest arrival.

"Carol?" The brunette asked cautiously.

There was a growl in return.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

Bo looked at Rick cautiously as he stood over the men he had just killed. Maybe the things Shane had been saying were finally getting to him, becoming clearer. Bo knew first hand that the living could be just as bad, if not worse than the dead in some cases.

"Let's head back." Hershel finally spoke up, sounding sober now.

"I'm all for that." Bo agreed, picking up a gun from one of the bodies and looked it over. She headed over to the door but paused at the sounds of a car. She shared a look with Rick before ducking into hiding with Glen. "Just can't catch a break."

"It'll work out." Glen assured her. Bo just grinned at him as she held the gun at the ready. She looked around then gestured for his help as they heard the men outside converging back in front of the bar. The two of them moved carefully to get the door blocked, Rick and Hershel watching their moves, guns ready for a worst case scenario.

Bo listened with half attention as everyone started yelling at each other. She didn't really pay any mind until gunshots started ringing out and the windows shattered. She followed Glen away from the door and to the back and took down people outside. She looked at the young man with her, curious to his slight moment of inactivity. She remembered him saying in the car about Maggie telling him she loved him and thought back on all the implications such a statement would lead to.

"Glen, try for the car, Hershel you cover him." Rick instructed with the foursome got back together. "Me and Bo will keep these guys down."

"Be careful, China man." Bo muses, barely aware of the fact that she was using one of Daryl's mannerisms. Glen looked at her for a moment, confused himself, then went out to try and get to the car for them. Bo crouched by one of the shattered windows and looked out.

"You okay?" Rick asked, glancing at the young blonde doctor.

"Peachy keen." Bo replied softly. Rick took her in with curious eyes. Her demeanour had definitely changed from the moment their lives went into danger. The first pair of men walking through the door had tensed the woman up and she had yet to loosen, keeping high strung and wary. He noticed it, barely, when they were running from the CDC building, taking out walkers that were attracted to the explosion. It brought him back to the moment in the forest when they were looking for Sophia and the calculated look in her eyes as she took in the surrounding trees.

"THEM THINGS ARE COMING THIS WAY! WE NEED TO GO NOW!" A man yelled out from a truck as he drove the loud vehicle into the area. Bo and Rick looked out as the remainder of their attackers converged on the truck. A loud scream of pain rang out and they looked to see a young man stuck on a fence as the truck pulled away.

"Damn it." Bo muttered, angry at the problem they now faced. She whistled up to Hershel before walking out of the bar and going for the young man, Rick right behind her. "This looks bad."

"We can't leave him." Rick insisted. He turned to Glenn as the young man joined up with them. "That hatchet still in the car?"

"You wanna cut his leg off?" Bo asked, eyebrows raising.

"Any other suggestions?" Rick asked.

"He'll go into shock no matter what we do, he's probably half way there right now." Bo pointed out. She fired her gun at a walker that was nearing them and frowned as the man on the fence groaned in obvious pain. "We...we don't have time."

"You saying we just leave him to get eaten?" Rick asked, staring at the young doctor.

"I'm saying we're gonna get eaten." Bo pointed out, firing again. Glen was taking out walkers as they neared as well by that point. Rick looked around, his heart dropping as he realized Bo was right. They couldn't save the boy and keep themselves alive. They had maybe ten seconds to get in the car and go. With a moment of deep sorrow and regret, he pulled the trigger of his gun with the barrel pointed at the man on the fence then took off with the other three for the vehicle.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

"Anyone know where Carol is?" Andrea asked, sitting with the rest of the group as they all prepared for dinner. Everyone looked around, several of them realizing guiltily that they hadn't seen Carol since she had been asked if she wanted Sophia buried. The mother had gone off into her tent and everyone had just assumed she still in there. Anna frowned deeply, mentally cursing herself for not noticing.

"My mom's not here either." Carl pointed out, worried.

"They're probably together." Anna tried to assure the boy. Everyone got up from their spots to do a quick sweep around the farm for the missing women.

"Lori probably went off to get Rick and them." Daryl pointed out with a deep unsettling frown on his face. "She asked me to go but I ain't sticking my neck out there."

"And you're just now mentioning this?" Andrea asked.

"I heard her do it." Anna stepped in for Daryl's defence. "I didn't figure she'd be so determined on it to actually go out on her own though. I'll go find her."

"I'll go along with you." Shane volunteered, picking through the weapons and passing over a gun to the brunette woman. Anna gave a quick grateful smile. She watched in curiousity as Shane exchanged a look with Andrea, giving her a nod before heading for a truck. Anna quickly followed him, patting Carl on the shoulder to reassure him.

They were silent for a few minutes, looking out at the dark empty road. Anna tapped her fingers on her legs, looking around for some sign of either of the mothers. Mentally cursing herself over and over. Carol should have been watched, she had just lost her child, she was going to turn flight risk.

"You know which way we're going?" Anna asked, turning to look at Shane as he gripped the steering wheel.

"Toward town." Shane replied quietly. Anna sighed and looked out the front window. "You alright?"

"Feeling stupid." Anna muttered. Shane glanced over at her and lifted an eyebrow. "None of us knew Carol was gone. We all just assumed she was grieving in her tent. We should have checked on her."

"Everyone was giving her space, albeit too much space it seems." Shane reminded her gently. "Wasn't any clue that she'd go off." Anna just nodded, still feeling guilty. They pulled to a stop by the overturned car and got out to look around, taking in the dead walker bodies.

"LORI!" Shane called out, frowning. Anna looked at him, unsure if she should tell him to keep quiet or not. "Damn it, that woman!"

"We'll find her." Anna assured him. She didn't direct his attention to the blood in the grass but she did take note of it. They walked around the site then tensed up when there was shuffling and growling. Whipping around, guns ready, they both froze when two female figures stumbled their way towards them.

"Holy God..." Shane muttered, eyes widening. Anna backed away from what was once Lori and Carol, moving herself closer to Shane and the truck.

"Well...we found them." The woman muttered dreadfully. Lori growled, her jaws snapping, the big chunk missing from her arm told them all they needed to know of what had happened, as did the fleshy bits dangling from Carol's chin and the fresh blood that made a mess of her front. The duo shuffled their way closer and Anna darted her eyes to Shane, wondering what should be done. He faltered only for a moment, a look of regret in his eyes, before he lifted his gun to the ready and fired twice. The female walkers fell to the ground, holes in their heads, and laid still.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

Anna took the responsibility to tell the group what had happened and she took the blame for shooting them. She had argued with Shane about it during the ride back and was relieved when he didn't say a word to oppose her statement. He was already getting treated like a threat, she didn't need this to push anything further.

Andrea had been wordless as she handed both of them the food from the dinner they hadn't had the chance to consume earlier. The blonde patted Shane's arm sympathetically before going off to take walker watch from on top of the RV.

"Do you think it was fast?" Carl asked quietly, sitting with Shane and Anna and looking at them with watery eyes though no tears fell.

"Just remember that your mom loved you." Anna stated firmly. She gently nudged the boy's chin with her knuckles and smiled at him. "She was a good lady." Shane scoffed but said nothing to argue the statement.

There was talk amongst the rest of the group of what to do, what would be said to Rick upon his return. Everyone went to sleep after a while with nothing else to do. Anna had ended up in the tent with Carl to keep him company as he no longer had his mother and his father was away.

Daryl was the first one to see the car pull in and raised an eyebrow in curiousity when the foursome exited the vehicle. Bo limped from the back seat and Rick circled around the car to help her as Glen and Hershel went to Maggie and Beth. Daryl paused, not being able to help the concern with why the girl was limping.

"What happened?" Shane asked, looking up as Rick and Bo joined him and Carl. The blonde woman was a little surprised by the concern present in the deputy's voice.

"Accident." Bo muttered. Eyebrows were raised as more people looked their way.

"Bo sort of...slammed her foot in the car door." Rick explained. There was a pause of silence.

"We were getting in the car and a walker grabbed my foot." Bo expanded the explanation with a roll of the eyes. "I pulled, it pulled, I closed the door...really fast...trying to get it's hand...and I ended up getting my ankle."

Shane was the first to start laughing. It started low, he was trying to hide it. But it got louder from a low chuckle to a full on laugh. Rick was ready to get mad when he felt Bo shaking next to him and then she started laughing as well. Soon after that Rick, Anna, T-Dog, Andrea, Glen and Maggie were laughing as well although no one really knew why. Carl stared at the adults, trying to figure out what was going on but giving up. Daryl just shook his head and turned his attention elsewhere.

"I don't get it." Beth muttered, frowning.

"I think they just need to laugh." Hershel informed his youngest child. He rubbed her back then put his arm around her. Beth raised an eyebrow then sighed and just watched the people laughing.

* * *

So no Randell issues in this story. Reading the stuff on the show and these episodes and I decided that Randell was basically a catalyst for what happened with Rick and Shane.


	9. What's On Your Mind

**What's On Your Mind  
**

So seeing as how the rest of the season stuff revolves around the Randell issue and I don't have him in my story, going to have to make some stuff up. Nice little challenge for me there lol.

* * *

Bo watched Rick and couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He had lost his wife, the mother of his child. She couldn't imagine it was an easy thing to go over. Everything had been fine with the foursome had returned to the camp, hell, they even all laughed at Bo for slamming her foot in the door. But then things had calmed and Rick had noticed the missing people in the group. Anna had spoken up, telling the same tale of being the one to put down Lori and Carol. Shane had winced as the story was told, his head down, mouth shut. Andrea had patted at his knee and made an attempt to comfort him.

"So...you gotta talk to anyone?" Bo asked, finally speaking up to break the silence that she and the Sheriff had fallen into. The rest had gone off in an attempt to get some sleep, leaving the two at the fire. Bo had witnessed Andrea sneak to Shane's tent and held back a grin, wondering on just how long that had been going on for now.

"What's there to talk about?" Rick asked. Bo sighed and rubbed her head. Her lack of sleep over the last few days starting to get to her in the form of a rough headache. She was going to crash, she knew it. If not that night then very soon. The very thought of crashing pissed her off and she frowned slightly as she processed different ways to prevent it.

God, she wished she had cigarettes at times like this.

"Does anybody really know anything about you?" Rick suddenly asked, turning his eyes to the irritated med student. She blinked and looked at him, curiousity taking over. "Does Daryl really even know you?"

"He don't really ever ask." Bo muttered.

Unbeknownst to either of them, the mentioned hunter was listening from inside his tent, having been unsuccessful at getting to sleep and the sound of their voices just ruining the still, quiet air.

"How did...I mean...why..." Rick wasn't sure how to phrase what he wanted to know. The woman sighed, knowing already what he was going to ask because she had been asked it a few times.

"I joined the group." Bo explained, launching into the only real time she had actually given off the explanation. "And...one of the men...probably was more disgusting then Merle. I mean, don't get me wrong, Merle's a pig, but he's upfront about it. This guy...sort of took stalker to a new level. Couple of days in, I wasn't the only one who noticed him constantly watching me but then denying it. Daryl had come with me to the quarry to be all guard like when I was cleaning shit." Bo paused in her story, thinking back to the day and tilting her head, remembering her thought process. "He had offered to deal with the guy for me, joking about feeding him off to the walkers."

"Sounds like something Daryl would do." Rick laughed slightly. Bo smiled fondly as she picked up a stick to poke at the dying fire.

"I told him if he really wanted to help, I had a better solution." She continued her story. Rick tilted his head in curiousity. He remembered getting told by Shane that everyone had known that it took only a short while for Bo and Daryl to get into what they were doing but no one had said anything about the actual day and what happened. "Told him not to be surprised later and left it at that. We returned to the camp, had dinner, spent some time with everyone and then Daryl had gone off to his tent, still confused. There was a few people still around, including stalker man, and I had made a big show of standing up and stretching. Then I had simply gone over to Daryl's tent and went inside."

"And he was okay with that?" Rick asked.

"He thought it was funny when he realized it was my plan." Bo explained, smiling. "Merle had yelled out that his little brother was gonna get himself a piece of ass. At first, it wasn't really a thought in my head. I had just intended on just spending a night or two in the tent. But then we sort of got talking and...just...ended up doing it." She chuckled lightly at her wording. She leaned back, her eyes watching the burning embers fade away. "We talk about things: what we did before, what we were like, that sort of stuff." She couldn't keep the smile off her face as she thought over her time with Daryl. "He's...I ain't going to pretend that, if the world hadn't fallen to shit, I would have still gotten with him. Chances are, I probably wouldn't have, unless, you know, I was trying to piss someone off and he was the way of doing it."

"Yeah, he has those characteristics." Rick agreed. Bo nodded enthusiastically and looked at the Sheriff. "Probably would have been great to annoy parents." The woman laughed lightly, clearly amused by the path of the conversation. "Are you glad that you're with him now though?"

There was a pause as Bo considered the question and everything else related to it. Her smile slowly faded off and she didn't look as happy as she been earlier.

Inside his tent, Daryl sat up, straining his hearing to find out the answer. He mentally cursed himself for being so interested in the answer and actually anxious about what it could be.

"Case you haven't noticed...we...ain't exactly together right now." Bo muttered, sounding fairly unhappy. "I don't know what happened to him in those woods but...he's just shut down."

"Bo..." Rick started but came up short when the blonde woman stood up.

"You should get some sleep." Bo insisted gently. "Keep with your boy for a while. Afterall, he did just lose his mom. He's gonna want his dad around for comfort."

Rick knew she was right. He sighed and nodded in agreement. Rising to his feet, he gave the woman a soft pat on the shoulder and uttered a low 'good night' before retiring to his tent for the night. Bo took a deep breath and sat back down, unsure on where she should set herself up for the night. Even if Andrea was in Shane's tent, that didn't mean she wasn't going to go back to her own. If she was sneaking, that meant she didn't want to make it obvious, which left the tent mate in a state of unknowing. Bo wanted to be nice, she wasn't going to go the tent then grill Andrea about it later when she snuck back in. The kind option also meant that she was more likely going to have to stay out of the tent the full night just to make less explanations.

"Never did understand why you just continued to stick with me." Daryl's voice made her jump, her hand instantly shooting to her hip where her gun was holstered. Bo paused then sighed and relaxed as the hunter dropped himself down next to her. She looked at him curiously, wondering what had brought him around. She was disappointed as he stayed quiet, his shadowy figure slightly hunched on his elbows rested on his knees, his face turned toward the last embers of the fire. Bo didn't even know what had caused the problem to begin but by this point she was irritated enough to not want to be the initiator to any conversation.

When the quiet dragged on for a few minutes and the blonde was sure that nothing was going to be said, she shook her head and rose to her feet. There was a slight crack with a few of her bones as she stretched and let out a yawn.

"Why did you stay with me?" Daryl asked suddenly as Bo lifted a foot to head to Andrea's tent. She paused and sighed before slowly turning to look down at the hunter in the dark.

"Because I wanted to." Bo answered, her wariness from the small amount of sleep starting to catch up to her. "You're a better guy than you give yourself credit for. You're stronger than Merle said you were. You're one of the best people I have ever known even if you are a stupid hot headed hick." Daryl chuckled slightly, a low rumble in his chest, and Bo was sure that he had cracked the smallest of smiles. She sank back down to her knees in front of him and looked at his dark form. "You've always been doubting me. Always so certain that one day I'll get tired of you and move on. I thought, after the CDC, that...you had stopped that. And then this happened."

Daryl turned his head away, even though they couldn't see each other's eyes in the darkness. Bo sighed heavily, a sound of disappointment, as she leaned back then rose back to her feet. He caught her again, physically this time, as she turned to try once more to get to the tent. He had risen to his own feet and lightly locked his hand around her wrist. She didn't turn to face him this time, but she didn't move either. His grip allowed for her escape if she so chose to make one.

"I don't know what to do." Daryl confessed. His eyes narrowed slightly as he frowned, irritated with himself. He saw Bo's silhouette turn toward him and heard that heavy sigh again. He wanted so desperately to make her stop making that sound but he was stuck on a course of action.

"I can't tell you what to do Daryl, I ain't your brother." Bo stated, exasperated. She lifted her free hand to warmly cup his cheek and she contemplated her next words carefully.

She knew damn well that Daryl Dixon was not an emotions type person, but then she had never asked him to be, never expected him to be. Hell, she wasn't even an emotions person. She was, however, an 'actions speak louder than words' type person. With that in mind, she stepped closer to him, her encased hand becoming nestled between their bodies. Even in the darkness, she could see the slight puzzlement on the hunter's face. She brushed her thumb gently over his cheek before she rose slightly on her toes and pressed her lips to his.

The response was almost instantaneous.

His hand had released her wrist in favour of burying into her hair. His other hand shot out to grasp her waist and hold her close, trapping her hand between them. His grip held so firmly that she wondered if he feared her pulling away and leaving. Her hand on his cheek drifted back to copy his, burying into his short hair. She parted her lips to allow his prodding tongue access to her own. He slid his hand under her shirt and ran his rough fingers gently over the skin of her lower back, across one of her few scars, another reminder that he didn't know much about her as he didn't know what the scar was from.

He let out a slight groan of protest when her head moved back, separating their oral contact in favour of touching her forehead to his. They stood like that, completely still and breathing softly, for a long couple of minutes. Finally, Bo let out a soft yawn, her knees bending slightly as her body wished for her to lay down and rest. Daryl went to tighten his grip on her and make the move to bring her to his tent but she was suddenly gone from his grasp. He looked at her in bewilderment, an expression that was lost in the darkness.

"I am yours, Daryl." Bo muttered softly. "Whenever you want to believe that. I know you won't right now. You might think you do for the amount of time it takes to have sex but come the morning, you'll look at me that same way that you always do, always wondering what I'm doing and why I've picked you." With his eyes adjusting, he could actually see the vaguely disappointed expression on the young woman's face. Daryl wasn't very pleased with that expression but he knew she was right. Even at the CDC, even after what had happened and he was almost certain that he could believe it all then...by the time they found out what Jenner had planned, he lost that belief all for another belief that he just couldn't be happy with anything.

He didn't even notice Bo had moved until he heard a tent zipper and saw her across the way at Andrea's tent, ducking inside. Daryl was half tempted to call after her, demand she come back out of that tent and into his, but he didn't want to do that to himself. He didn't want to do it to either of them.

Because he knew damn well that they would lay there, they would get naked, they would have sex and fell asleep. The morning would come along and he would look at her, wondering how on earth she had decided to be with him, doubting the chances that he could actually keep her attention and wondering when she would stop being with him and turn to someone else. He knew damn well, once she saw that look, that disappointment would resurface, that heavy sigh would come past her pouty lips, and they'd end up right back to this point.

_She doesn't sleep much when you're out, you know. Always up before and after everyone else._

Carol had told him that once. Explained that Bo was always awake when Daryl went out for hunts. With that bit of knowledge, he knew that she was suffering from this 'separation' as much as he was. They relied on each other for a good night's sleep, as odd as that sounded. These last few days were killing both of them and it would only get harder and harder.

With a sigh of his own, Daryl entered into the tent. He sat down quietly and removed his boots, pulling the tent zipper shut. He took a small look around, not noticing anything really interesting in the darkness. Satisfied with the surroundings, he shrugged off his leather vest and set his hunting knife aside. His mind drifted momentarily under the pressure of the sleep trying to force itself inside. He shook his had before twisting and crawling to the makeshift bed. He laid down on his side, moving his arm carefully under his head and closed his eyes.

Almost as if it were an afterthought, he lifted his arm off his side and moved it forward. It fell lightly over the waist of the blonde haired woman already lying there and it tightened enough to pull her against his chest. There was a light breathy laugh of a sound and the slacking of tense shoulders but no further indication of his actions making an impression on the woman.

And just like that, the pair of them drifted off into sleep without a word.

* * *

Not to rain on any parades, but Daryl and Bo aren't exactly reconciled yet. I'm curious on who you guys think should get separated from the group and end up in Woodbury with Andrea. Sometimes I think Bo, sometimes I think Anna, sometimes I even think Shane. Also sometimes wonder if I should even split up the group and just find another way for them to find out about Woodbury and the Governor and Merle. I just do not know so I need reader assistance.


	10. The Separation

**The Separation  
**

Okay, I think I got a bit of an idea so bare with me on this my dear readers.

* * *

A fight had broken out between Rick and Shane when they tried to discuss courses of action. Anna had quickly jumped in, mediated, and somehow over the course of two and a half hours, an agreement had been settled on. Shane had apologized to Hershel and the girls for the things he'd done, including letting out the walkers even though he still stood his ground on it needing to be done. In return, Hershel had invited the whole group into the house, giving them shelter from the upcoming winter.

Daryl had made the suggestion that they fix up the barn, turn it into a second place for the survivors to bunk in so that they didn't crowd the house. The suggestion was taken into consideration and ultimately agreed on. Over the course of the next few days, Daryl, T-Dog and Shane had gone through the woods, chopping down trees to use and then got to work on making up the wood panels.

A tragedy struck when Carl had gone off on his own, the first time since leaving Atlanta that he had done such a thing. Dale had gone to retrieve him but ended up being the target of a hungry walker. Rick and Daryl had found them and Daryl had put the bullet in Dale's head to ensure he didn't turn. Somewhere over the course of discussing the incident with Anna, Rick had ended up revealing that Jenner had told him every single person was infected and all it took was dying to turn, no bites. She had convinced him that he needed to tell the rest of the group and he had done so, facing off some criticisms about not telling them earlier.

In the end, everyone accepted his reasoning and went on with their ways.

"Coming along pretty well." Anna commented, standing by the barn and looking up at the men currently on the roof. Rick looked down and shot a half smile her way, something Daryl didn't miss as he laid out another plan of wood to get nailed in over a hole. "You boys need anything?"

"We're good for now Anna, thanks." Rick assured her. He rolled his sleeves up past his elbows and looked down at the work they had done so far.

"Okay...remember to come up with something for Carl to do soon." Anna pointed out. "That boy wants to help out."

"We'll get something for him." Rick agreed, smiling again. Anna smiled up at him then turned and walked back to the house. Rick's eyes followed her until he heard Daryl chuckle then he looked to the hunter with a raised eyebrow.

"You got it bad for that one." Daryl pointed out, lining up the wood and grabbing some nails.

"What?" Rick asked, surprised.

"You and Anna." Daryl stated. He held a nail to the wood and gauged the distance before picking up a hammer and starting to secure the nail in place. "Everyone sees it man. She's got a thing for you and there ain't no way you can tell me that you don't like her all the same." He set up another nail and glanced up at his friend. "Ain't like you got Shane to compete with. Him and Andrea been getting it on for a while now."

"That explains his mood." Rick muttered, slightly surprised by the revelation. His eyes gazed across the camp, coming along the edge of the forest. He spotted Shane and Andrea there, his friend behind the blonde woman and attempting to teach her how to swing an axe properly to get the best cuts into a tree. They looked to be having fun, they looked close. It almost threw Rick off, remembering how Shane and Anna had been weeks ago. Anna was still the person that the deputy went to if something was really grating on his nerves but it seemed that their relationship had turned more to friends or siblings.

"I realize you just lost your wife and all but I doubt anyone's gonna give you a hard time if you move on already." Daryl pointed out vaguely, not paying too much attention to his words as he hammered in more nails.

"I doubt anyone else is going to catch Bo's attention." Rick countered, turning the conversation around on the redneck. Daryl paused and slowly lifted his eyes to the Sheriff. After the one night, Bo had spent two more separate from Daryl and then just ended up back in his tent. It had only been sleeping, they didn't touch each other, barely even laid near each other, but they managed to get better sleep that way than either of them did on their own.

Outside of the tent, they were still as they had been before that first night. They didn't go around each other, didn't talk much unless the activity required it. It was like some silent agreement between the two of them, until they could get over the issues, they weren't going to push anything.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Daryl asked.

"I was still awake when you were talking to her the other night." Rick informed his friend. Daryl frowned slightly, not liking people eavesdropping even though he had been doing the same thing on Rick and Bo's conversation. "You don't have anything to worry about with her."

"We ain't exactly the emotional type of yahoos the rest of the bunch is." Daryl grumbled, turning his attention back to his work. He paused as he discovered that he had already finished with the plank he was working on.

"I'm not saying to go out and confess ever dying love for her." Rick laughed, shaking his head. "I'm just saying stop worrying that she's going to lose interest because obvious she hasn't. She's willing to admit that she's...your woman." He stayed silent, waiting for a response, but when he got none he let out a sigh. Somewhat disappointed that things were apparently going to remain messed up, he nevertheless stepped into action on the repairs.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

Andrea, who had gotten far better at shooting these days then she had been back at the Atlanta camp, had gone with Anna to do some training. Bo could have laughed when she realized that Rick and Shane both seemed to get more and more anxious, the longer then women were gone. When the two finally came back, it wasn't quite what anyone had in mind. They came running back as the sun settled over the horizon, yelling that the group had to move. Mild curiousity turned into outright panic as the group saw the herd of walkers staggering along behind the women.

Bo was honestly too stunned by the turn of events and too busy shooting to notice much else between the first arrival of the walkers and Daryl yanking her up behind him on the motorcycle to make an escape. She gripped the denim vest he wore, unsure of what else to do, and nuzzled her head between his shoulders. The echoing ring of the others yelling had faded off but still repeated in her head, along with the lingering scent of decay.

The pulled up along the others after some time and Bo stumbled off, grateful when Daryl grabbed her arm to steady her. Her eyes ran around the people present. T-Dog stood with Glenn as the younger man watched Maggie embrace Beth and Hershel. Rick, Carl and Anna stood a few feet away, Rick and Anna talking quietly with each other with worried expressions.

"Who's missing?" Daryl asked, eyes narrowing.

"Andrea and Shane." Rick replied, frowning. He was torn between going back to find his friend and staying on track. On one hand, Shane knew where they had planned to go towards and he was likely with Andrea, they'd be safe together, surely. On the other hand, that was a massive herd that had torn through the farm.

"What do we do?" Bo asked.

"We can't risk going back." Rick stated, shoulders slumping. Anna looked at him sympathetically. She didn't want to leave Shane and Andrea anymore than he did but it was a dangerous thought to go back and try to find them. There would just be no way to do it.

"So what are we doing?" Glenn asked.

"We move on, try and find some shelter, we need to get ready for the winter." Rick instructed. The rest nodded in wary agreement. Daryl slung his arm heavily over Bo's shoulders and refused to budge it when she shrugged experimentally. He simply gave a light tug, pulling her to his side, and she caved into the warmth of his body.

"You ain't getting out of my sight." Daryl murmured to her, his lips right at her ear. Bo tilted her head up to look at him curiously before giving a nod. His hand, which had been gripping her sleeve, finally loosened up and his fingers absently attempted to smooth out the material.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

They had run out of bullets a while ago but thankfully it seemed like they had also lost most of the walkers chasing them. They could still hear the groaning of at least one. Andrea glanced behind her, slowing down for just a second and receiving a yell from Shane to keep moving. She ducked under a branch, her hand holding firmly to that of the man behind her.

She risked another glance back just as her foot hit a hole in the ground. It wedged itself in long enough for the unexpected resistance to cause a disturbance in the woman's balance. She let out a surprised yelp and fell forward, feeling her ankle pull roughly and twist as she landed on the hard ground. Shane fell with her but managed to remove his hand from hers in time to be able to brace himself over top of her without crushing her. The pained cry she emitted made him thinking momentarily that he had misjudged his own strength.

"Shane." Andrea spoke in a panicked tone as she looked behind him. Rolling slightly but keeping the woman covered, Shane turned in time to see the lumbering figure of the walker loom over them.

And then swiftly lose it's head.

The pair on the ground were silent, only their heavy breathing echoing around them. Both pairs of eyes slowly moved to the three figures that stood nearby. Two of the figures were missing their arms and lower jaws and were obviously dead. But the other figure, the one that held the walkers by chains, stood in a hooded cloak with a sword in her hand.

Shane reached for his empty gun, hoping that the person wasn't going to be a threat to him or Andrea with his lack of defence weaponry.

For a long time, there was only silence.

* * *

So this is really short but I wanted to try and get at least one story updated for Christmas. I make no promises to the other stories but at least now I'm in season 3 stuff with this one.

Do you guys want to see some glimpses into what would happen between the seasons here?


	11. Eight Months of Change

**Eight Months Of Change  
**

So this chapter is going to jump the eight months that the seasons jumped but don't worry, I'll have flashbacks here and there about things that happened, there are a few important details to mention from time to time.

Also I'm sort of mucking around with things for season 3, some things stay the same, others (obviously) are going to change or not happen, and others will happen but to different people.

* * *

Daryl was verging on psychopathic rage. His grip on the crossbow constantly tightening, his eyes persistently narrowed, his mouth drawn in a hard line, teeth gritting more often than not.

And it was all Bo's fault.

Oh sure, she probably wasn't doing it intentionally, likely didn't even realize what her actions were doing, but that still didn't make it any easier.

The winter was over and done with and the warmer the air got, the less clothes the med student seemed to wear. She would hop onto the bike behind him, a pro at it by now, in jeans that she had cut short and a tank top that didn't always want to cover her belly button. She was doing things that made him just wanna toss her over his shoulder and take her behind whatever thing could provide a decent cover and have his dirty way with her.

Their sleeping habits hadn't changed much. Still near each other but not touching. They talked more now, ever since Daryl's declaration of not wanting to let her out of his sight eight months ago, he had kept true to that. If he went hunting, he'd bring Bo with him. If she was busy, he would wait, stand nearby, and watch. He had woken a couple of times, momentarily disoriented and verging on rage at not finding her nearby, only to discover her talking with Anna or sitting with Maggie, sometimes doing a watch with T-Dog.

"We've already been round that way." T-Dog's arguing tone brought Daryl out of his angered thoughts as the hunter's eyes remained locked on the blonde woman across the vehicle hood from him. Her own eyes were intent on the map as they tried to figure out an alternate route that they had yet to take that could be safe.

"I know...I know." Rick muttered, running a hand over his face. "And I know it got swarmed over, but if we back track and circle around west, we could miss the herd."

"That's an awful big risk." Maggie muttered. It wasn't an intentional thing, nor a common thing for people to question Rick. He had a few moments on occasion when the stress made him snap. Anna would usually take him away from the group for some solitude. The two of them had gotten closer over the eight months. With little chances to be alone, whatever relationship they could possibly have wasn't too intimate but it wasn't unusual to have one kiss the other's cheek, comfort the other, wordlessly move to a position to offer a shoulder rub when one (mostly Rick) would get too stressed.

"Not much that ain't a big risk these days, Mags." Bo pointed out. She glanced off to the side where Carl stood, his back to them, gun in hand. At the other side of the pack up was Beth in a similar position, only she had a crowbar.

"What do you think?" Rick asked, eyes drifting up for the map to look at Bo before sliding over to look at Daryl. The two were Rick's primary source of second opinions, the right hand people. The three of them together covered all aspects of thought: Rick with his protective nature, Daryl with his tracking and underlying genius, Bo with her medical knowledge and, by this point, full knowledge of every person in the group. He valued what they had to say and took their thoughts into consideration.

"I think...we need to go hunting." Daryl spoke up with a huff. The group hadn't eaten since the last time they actually had a roof over their heads, two days ago.

"Yeah...alright." Rick agreed, hands on his hips. "T-Dog, swap off with Beth, Glenn with Carl." The mentioned men nodded their agreement and move to do as they were directed. "Daryl, Bo..."

There was nothing needed to be said as their weapons were gathered and they headed off. A few months back, they had found a gun store that was thankfully still stocked on a few things. They had picked up silencers for their guns, ammo, and Daryl had even found a second crossbow which he had promptly begun to teach Bo the proper ways of using. They had discovered a few packs of bolts which the duo made sure to retrieve if they ever fired off, even if they did continue to make their own.

Bo now constantly walked with her crossbow across her back, the sling of bolts and arrows over her shoulder, a knife at her thigh and one hiding in her boot and a small emergency medical kit attached to her belt. They had gathered the supplies and she and Hershel had sat down and worked on making several emergency packs for the members of the group that went off on scavenging and hunting trips. They had come in handy a few times already, most recently the previous week when Carl had ended up with a fair sized cut on his arm when he was successful in ramming open a door.

"We really need to find a secure place." Bo mused out loud as she followed the guys through the trees. "The others are getting worn out, can't be good for Hershel at his age."

"We're trying, Bo." Rick assured the woman. "Just ain't easy."

"Well how secure we talking?" Daryl asked, suddenly stopping. The other two went past him a few steps before realizing he had stopped. They looked at him then turned to look where he was looking. Beyond some trees they could see a large concrete structure.

With a fence.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

She looked through the shelves, getting more irritated as she went along. Finding random packets of things that were at least somewhat useful, she stuffed them away into her bag and moved along. The bell over the door chimed and she paused, her eyes turning to the side and watching as the decayed body shuffled it's way towards her. It snapped it's jaws and she frowned, reaching up to pull her sword free from it's sheath. The blade just becoming visible as the body suddenly flinched and went still for a moment, the tip of something metal suddenly protruding from it's forehead. She tilted her eyes up after watching the body fall to the floor to observe the man standing there.

He gave her a slight nod which she returned before resuming her search. He held his knife tightly as he silently moved on to another part of the shop to locate anything helpful. They were always quiet on these runs, not wanting to draw attention in on themselves. He moved fast but lightly, not wanting noise but wanting to be done quick and get back to whatever shelter they had at the time.

Once they had cleared out what they figured they could need, they left the shop. She was behind him, something he wouldn't have allowed a few months ago. Not to say he still didn't trust this woman but he trusted her a great deal more nowadays then when they first met. It was the same for times now when he followed behind her, once they had found ammo for his gun, she was even more sceptical about allowing it, even with her chained walkers between them.

"Andrea?" His voice called out carefully as the pair walked through a large sliding door that sat open enough for them to squeeze in one at a time. He walked over to the army cot where the blonde woman was sitting up, looking worn out and pale with a rounded stomach.

While Shane had had suspicions a couple of months after being separated from the group and finding Michonne, Andrea had refused to even believe the possibility that she was pregnant until the rounding of her stomach and the fluttering kicks from within made it impossible to ignore. At which point she had promptly flown into a panic and then broke into an argument with Shane about keeping out of the scavenging and staying hidden as often as possible. She didn't like doing nothing, that much was clear, but why risk the small life yet to be born?

"Everything go okay?" Andrea asked, worry in her eyes. Shane smiled softly at her, hoping to ease the worry, and nodded in affirmative. Her tension eased slightly as she swung her legs over the side of the cot. Her eyes drifted over to their comrade as Michonne unlocked her walkers.

"As okay as ever." Michonne answered. She glanced over, watching Shane feed Andrea some of the pills they had found that was going to help her. The blonde made a face as she swallowed the medication and took the man's hand to get to her feet. "Are you good to move?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Andrea argued quickly. Shane gave her a look as she packed up the things she had nearby. He took the bag from her and slung it over his back. She narrowed her eyes slightly but he just shook his head, silence falling once. He nudged open the door more, something that the blonde wasn't exactly happy with since she knew it was mostly for her and that was just one more reminder that she was larger. The somewhat rough kick from within her eased her annoyance at the door and brought it to the round shape that concealed the soon to be born child.

"We'll need to find a permanent type place soon." Shane informed Michonne. The dark skinned woman gave a nod as she tugged her walkers through the door and the little group went off trekking again.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

Anna wandered one direction of the inner gate of the prison while Rick went the other direction. Every time they passed by each other, he'd lightly touch her hand or arm, his shoulders dropping as he relaxed slightly. His fear of her hitting an opening and getting attacked without help kept him tensed until he saw her again, perfectly fine.

"You think they'll ever be satisfied?" Hershel muttered, watching the pair.

"Rick's pretty protective." T-Dog remarked.

"He'll be doing that all night?" Beth asked. T-Dog shrugged and picked at his food, caught between actually wanting to eat and needing to preserve what he could.

"Anna will get him to sit down and eat soon." Carl stated, fairly certain. He knew his dad would keep going unless someone stopped him and he also knew that Anna was good at keeping him on track.

"Course she will." Glenn agreed with a smile. "Real question is, who's gonna bring those two down?" His eyes moved over to where Daryl and Bo were standing on top of a turned over jeep, doing their own pacing. Only they were twisting to walk by each other with minimal contact.

"I'll bring them something to eat." Maggie decided, putting some of the food on a plate and rising from her spot by the fire. She walked over to the jeep and raised an eyebrow when she actually heard the two on top talking.

"All I'm saying is that some of the jumps were not particularly believable." Bo muttered.

"Woman, you do not know what you're talking about." Daryl shot back. "Quit now before you embarrass yourself."

"You honestly think with the way the General landed, that it wouldn't have popped a wheel or something?" Bo asked.

"Wait, are you guys arguing about Dukes of Hazzard?" Maggie asked, looking surprised. The people on the jeep looked at her, surprised to have company.

"Uh..." Daryl mumbled.

"Whatcha got there, Mags?" Bo asked, crouching down. Maggie passed up the food and got a smile from the blonde. "Thanks."

"No problem, you guys don't need to stay up there all night." Maggie pointed out.

"We'll come down in a bit." Bo assured. Maggie nodded and walks back to the rest of the group.

"Not when the car is constructed right." Daryl resumed the conversation as Bo straightened up.

"I'm telling ya, it's not possible." Bo argued, shaking her head. She strapped her crossbow over her back and tasted some of the food. "Not once did one of those landings fuck up that car, it ain't possible."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Daryl grumbled, taking some of the food.

"Well it ain't like we can get all the seasons and you can try and prove me wrong." Bo pointed out, grinning. "Well, we probably could but not like we can find the electrical outlets for a tv and dvd player."

"We could find one of them portable ones." Daryl suggested.

"They still get plugged in." Bo reminded. Daryl shot her a look and Bo smirked. "Got another thing that'll get you all messed up." Daryl looked at her, eyebrow cocked. "This is probably the equivalent of the new world type of date."

"You're looking at this like a date?" Daryl asked.

"Well gotta start somewhere, don't we?" Bo questioned curiously. "You're the one not believing me that I ain't got no other person of interest." She looked at him with her head tilted. "You think you ain't good enough and all but then you don't take into consideration that you are about five hundred times better then other guys I've been with because you don't care how people see ya." She sighed and shook her head. "You're you...and that's that. You ain't going crazy with protecting me but you're there if and when I need ya. Teaching me shit and keeping jackasses off my ass."

Daryl sighed, unsure of how to respond to this. Bo put her hand on his shoulder, passed over the plate of food, then leaned in and kissed his cheek, lingering for several seconds. She dropped a soft kiss to his lips before she got down off the jeep and went to join the group.

* * *

I just so wanted to see how Shane might act around Merle and the Governor lol. I can only imagine he'd be like in between Andrea and Michonne on it. But I figure, gotta keep him and Andrea in Woodbury, and if Shane is like Michonne and not trusting them there, Andrea would actually likely go along with the leaving. So her being pregnant and close to birth will persuade Shane to sticking around but keeping a close eye on things.


	12. Times Like These

**Times Like These  
**

So this has a mix of season three episode two and episode three. Plus, at the end, there's a treat for you guys. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

"Get him in the bed, quick quick quick!" Bo instructed, jumping to her feet as she watched the guys carry Hershel in. The old man was missing the bottom half of his right left and she could only guess at what had happened. She followed them, sharing a look with Daryl as the hunter stayed by the door, crossbow up and ready. Colour drained slightly from her face as she wondered why he had to do that before she got into the cell with Hershel and got to work on his leg.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Maggie demanded, staring wide fearful eyes at her boyfriend.

"His leg got bit, we had to...keep him from turning." Glenn explained calmly. His eyes betrayed his voice, wide and wild with fear as they darted between the upset woman now in his arms to the man in the bed. Bo sighed as she waved everyone out of the cell and got to work on making sure the old man didn't die. She didn't pay attention to the things said as several inmates of the jail came around, figuring the guys had it under control. Her eyes drifted to Daryl with his steady certain aim before returning to her job at hand.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Beth asked, watching the med student work on her father.

"Is anybody ever okay?" Bo muttered. It wasn't exactly the best thing to say to the worried teenager but things were stressful and trying to reassure the girl that anyone would be okay in this messed up world wasn't in her mental capabilities at the moment. She felt a little bad at the defeated look that took over the young blonde's face.

"This is our prison, we were here first!" One of inmates claimed loud enough to be heard in the cell. Bo's eyes shot up for a moment to observe the interaction taking place. She shook her head and glanced at Anna before nodding over at the men. The brunette took the unspoken indication and walked over to the gathering, hand on her gun and eyes wary.

"Hey boys, how about a deal?" Anna spoke up as she neared the men. All eyes shot to her, the inmates all scanning over her jeans and tank top, some with hunger in their expressions. Rick gave her a look that clearly begged her to be cautious. "You give us half the food you all got in that cafeteria, and we'll help you clear out a cell block where you lot can keep."

"That all?" The leader, Tomas, asked.

"I have absolutely no hesitation in shooting you between the eyes." Rick pointed out, glaring darkly at the man. If these men thought for even a second that they were getting between the legs of any of the girls, they had a whole other thing coming. The sheriff was tense and ready to shoot, daring any opposition from the inmates.

"Right then...let's get that food." Tomas declared. Anna looked back to where Bo, Maggie and Beth were occupied with Hershel. Her eyes drifted over to Carl sitting on some steps, looking uncertain of what to do. She gave his shoulder a squeeze and took off his hat to ruffle his hair. He grinned at her, taking his hat back before watching the woman exit the cell block with the men.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

"What if someone's hurt, Shane?" Andrea asked, hands on her hips awkwardly. Shane had to bite his lip to keep from grinning. While the entire situation was serious, their little group having witnessed a helicopter go down not far from them, he couldn't help but find humour in the pregnant blonde's stance. She looked a little pained, something she was clearly trying to hide by her irritation at the caution her man was displaying.

"I'm not saying we don't go check it out." Shane reasoned, trying to calm the hormonal storm before it took off. "I'm just saying we don't go rushing in. We handle this with caution. Lots and lots of caution."

"Fine, let's go." Andrea insisted. Shane sighed and looked at Michonne but as usual, the dark skinned woman stayed silent. With an wary look in the direction that they had been originally heading, Shane led the women toward the rising smoke of the crash site.

It didn't take long for them to get there and while Michonne chained her walkers to a tree, Shane and Andrea moved closer to the wreckage to see what damage had been done. Dead bodies were over the ground next to the crashed chopper and broken branches littered the wreck and forest floor.

"Looks like nobody survived." Michonne commented.

"Damn." Andrea muttered. She held a hand on her stomach, feeling the twisting of the unborn child within. It was an action that provided her with comfort these days. At first it terrified her, the prospect of bringing a new life into this world where nothing was ever certain and there was no real stability. But now, the thought of this child growing up, not knowing the world before, while being a sad concept, gave her some sort of hope to the unborn life's survival.

"Somebody's coming." Shane hissed, grabbing the blonde pregnant woman and pulling her behind some bushes. He gave her an apologetic look as he got her onto her knees and crouched next to her. Michonne got down on Andrea's other side and glanced over at her walkers before all attention went to the arrival of two trucks.

"What are they doing?" Michonne muttered, frowning as the three of them watched men exit the trucks. One of them stabbed a corpse through the head and Andrea felt what little food she had eaten for breakfast start stirring around in her stomach and attempt to make it's way back out the way it came. She remembered Rick's declaration that everyone was infected, that everyone, no matter how they died, would turn.

The poor bastard.

"This one's alive." One of the men called out to the others, his attention on something inside the helicopter. It was at that moment that Michonne's walkers started to act up, straining on their chains, rattling the metal. Andrea, Shane and Michonne all tensed up and turned their eyes to the undead beings. Shane looked over at the men, realizing that they would likely hear the noise.

It was fast, before the other two even realized what she was doing, Michonne had removed her sword and sliced through the heads of the walkers with one clean quick swipe.

It was at that time as well, that Andrea really started to feel sick. Her face paled, her eyes started to glaze, Shane turned to her and stared in worry at the way the blonde's breathing had suddenly picked up and a fine sheen of sweat covered her forehead. He reached for her and paused as bushes rustled nearby. Michonne's grip on her sword tightened and she moved to lift it up.

"Ah, ah, ah...easy does it girl." The voice made Shane and Andrea both tense up, disbelief in their eyes as the recognized the sound almost instantly. "Mine's a whole lot bigger than yours. Now all of you just put down your weapons." Michonne looked more ready to want to fight then to actually lower her sword but a sharp look from Shane made her comply with the order. "That's it, nice and easy. Let me see your hands and spin around. All three of ya, that's it, nice little...oh holy shit."

The three turned, eyes confused but not overly surprised at the almost joyful tone of recognition that came from the person behind them. Merle Dixon was down on one knee behind them, levelling himself with them, a gun in his left hand and, where his right hand once was, a rather large spike now resided.

"Blondie...and the copper." Merle mused cheerfully. Andrea's eyes, fuzzy as they were getting, darted to the moving figure behind the man. "Well...you two look...like hell." The walker came right up on Merle and he stabbed his spike straight through it's jaw with barely any attention paid to it. Even Michonne looked surprised and unnerved.

"Merle..." Shane muttered, distaste dripping in his voice. The older of the Dixon brothers chuckled as he rose to his feet.

"Hey now, no need for that." Merle retorted, still looking cheerful. "How's about a hug for your old pal?"

As he opened his arms slightly along with the sarcastic suggestion, Andrea keeled over, falling against Shane.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

"Son of a bitch." Anna muttered, swinging a machete through a walker's head. This wasn't what she had in mind, tagging along with the men to help settle them in somewhere. Of course, it should have been, but she hadn't exactly expected the mass flood of walkers. She spun around, exchanging a reassuring look with Rick that ended up being a second too soon as a walker suddenly fell on top of her. She yelped out of sheer surprise as she struggled to keep the thing's mouth away from her.

It fell still as an arrow sank into it's head and then Daryl was over her, kicking the limp body away and helping the woman to her feet.

"What was that?" Rick asked, turning on Tomas as the last walker was taken down.

"Sorry bro, thing was coming at me." Tomas declared, looking the angry officer dead in the eye. "Didn't look where I was pushing." The lie was so obvious that even Anna, in all her kindness with wanting to find the best in people, was shooting daggers at the inmate.

"Yeah...I get it." Rick stated darkly. "Shit happens." There was a few seconds of silence, weapons still up, before Rick sank his machete into Tomas' head, ignoring the indignant yells from one of the inmates. Rick kicked back an attack then ended up chasing after the inmate as the young man took off.

"You okay?" Daryl asked, turning his attention to Anna to inspect for any damage while T-Dog moved closer to them, keeping an eye on the other inmates.

"I'm fine, really." Anna assured with a smile. She cast a hateful look to Tomas' dead body before turning her gun up to keep the remaining inmates in place. Daryl did the same with his crossbow.

"We ain't gonna have any trouble with you two now, are we?" The hunter asked.

"No man, they...they were the bad ones." Axle reasoned quickly. "We...we just wanna live. Ain't gonna turn on you or anything. Just...just want to live." Anna bit down on her lip to keep quiet. Daryl shot her a look, wondering on when her resolve would crumble. He was impressed when she didn't lower her gun, didn't even waver.

He supposed all that time with Bo must have done a thing or two.

Thinking of the blonde made him pause and wonder. What if Hershel hadn't gotten bit? What if Bo was the one that was standing here with him right now? The one that had gotten those hungry looks from the inmates? His grip tightened on the crossbow as his mind suddenly made up a visual of Bo in the arms of another man. It didn't sit well, not at all.

Anna shot a look his way, almost as if she knew what he was thinking, and gave him an expression that he interpreted as her calling him an idiot. Daryl frowned, the unsettling feeling of realizing someone was right sinking into his gut. Goddamn it all! Where was this mindset eight months ago? He could have saved himself a lot of grief.

Rick reentered at that moment, alone. He glanced over at the stationary inmates before turning his attention to Anna, doing his own inspection of the woman.

"Rick...I'm fine." Anna assured him softly. She held her free hand to his cheek and made him lock eyes with her before giving him a nod. He sighed and nodded back before turning cold hard eyes to the two men in prison jumpsuits.

"I ain't ever begged for anything." Oscar stated warily, shooting a look at Axle as the other man practically grovelled. His eyes moved momentarily to Anna who was shielded by the sheriff before he looked at Rick, at the held back anger glowing from the man's eyes, and gave a small nod. "You do what you gotta do."

There was a long, calculating pause as a solution was thought up and wordlessly agreed on by the group standing before the pair of inmates.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

Bo stirred as she felt herself getting lifted up. Her heavy eyes cracking up and taking in the worn out and dirty shirt that could only belong to Daryl as the man held her at his chest. She felt ready to drift back off when she suddenly remembered the situations around her.

"Hershel..." Bo muttered, tensing slightly and getting ready to move herself from the hunter's arms.

"Perfectly fine still." Daryl cut in, ducking into the cell the two of them shared. He took a moment to examine the blanket that had been hung over the bars to give a sense of privacy. "His girls are with him, said you really saved his life."

"Go me." Bo cheered sleepily. She smiled slightly when Daryl carefully put her on her feet and didn't step away. "How'd things go on your end."

"Of the four...two of them now live in the other cell block." Daryl explained. Bo raised an eyebrow but nodded, knowing there was more to the statement but if he wasn't going to elaborate just then, obviously it wasn't enough to cause a worry. The blonde smiled at the hunter and placed a soft warm hand on his cheek.

"I'm glad you're okay." Bo stated truthfully.

"The others are good." Daryl pointed out, shifting slightly.

"Well that's good too but I'm mostly glad that you're okay." Bo spoke firmly. She watched him the shadowy darkness of the cell as his eyes remained on her face, arms hanging at his sides. Bo sighed deeply, the sound registering in Daryl's mind as the unpleasant disappointment. She leaned forward and pressed her lips softly to his.

Finally, he broke. After so many months of not touching her, of driving himself insane and into psychotic rages over wanting her but not letting himself have her, he finally, blissfully broke. The second her lips touched his, he reacted. His hands lifted, one molding to her hip as the other buried into her hair, holding her closer. She moaned her surprise but approval into his mouth as his tongue worked past any virtually non existent barriers to duel with hers. Her hand dropped off his cheek and joined it's partner around his neck. Their bodies melded together, moving and grinding. He slid his hand from her hip to the button on her shorts and worked it open. She separated their lips as he pushed the garment down her thighs.

"Daryl..." Bo breathed out lustfully. Daryl attacked her neck with small nips to the flesh that brought a soft moan from the woman's throat. "This...what..."

"I'm done." Daryl mumbled against her skin. His hand massaged a path up her thigh, touching along the edge of her panties and slowly drifting towards the juncture in the middle. "I can't...I mean...fuck...been driving myself insane all winter." He pushed aside the fabric and moved the pads of his fingers over the sensitive flesh. Bo's breath caught in her throat and her head tilted back slightly, eyes closing. "I can't keep away from you Bo Bo. You fucked me over right and good and now I'm the son of a bitch who just...screwed up."

"Yeah...you did." Bo muttered, trying her hardest to pay attention to his words rather than his fingers. But good God, those fingers...

"I get it now." Daryl whispered, mouth at her ear.

"So...we...fuck..." Bo groaned, fingers gripping at his shoulders when his own moved in a delectable way. "We got...an agreement? Ya understand?"

"Yeah, I understand." Daryl agreed, nodding. "You're definitely my woman, ain't no one else can be as stubborn." Bo's short laughter was cut off by Daryl's mouth reattaching to hers as his hand moved to finish the process of undressing the blonde.

"You know..." Bo mused, moving away from the kiss again. "If Hershel hadn't gotten hurt...I woulda jumped ya a while back, once everything was secure." She worked the buttons open on Daryl's shirt, deciding to ignore the cocky ass grin on his face. "Fucking tired of nothing. Was all set to apply some force to ya."

"Should I take back what I said?" Daryl asked.

"Don't you dare." Bo growled.

Sleep was the furthest thing from her mind as they got on the bed, clothes piled up on the floor. They both groaned as they finally reconnected and the pace was created. Daryl buried his head against her neck to muffle his grunts. Bo raked her nails up his back, lip caught between her lips as she held in her noises, only soft whimpering escaping. She rocked her hips in time with his, careful of her movements when they learned that the bed potentially squeaked on occasion. His hand ran down her side, the rough fingertips coursing over the smooth skin creating a shiver down her spine. Her back arched, pressing her body harder against his, and he slipped his arm under her lower back to support the position.

"Never...again...ya hear me?" Bo mumbled breathlessly. She reached a hand up and gripped onto the bars at the top of the bed, her knuckles going white. Her other hand pushed at Daryl's chin until he lifted his head to look at her. Their bodies slick from the building perspiration. "Don't you...ever...ever...fucking hold out...on me...again."

"Yes ma'am." Daryl retorted with a heavy grunt and a hard thrust. His head dropped again when her hand moved off his chin, this time taking to her breasts and applying his mouth to the twin peaks. Bo let out a suddenly loud moan before she slapped her hand over her mouth, biting into her palm. Daryl chuckled slightly, the vibration coupled with his licking and thrusting finally did her in and Bo moaned heavily into her hand. He gave a couple of extra thrusts for extra measure and to finish himself off as well an then they lay there, collecting themselves and catching their breath.

Daryl gave one last affectionate nip to Bo's breast before lifting himself up and gathering their clothes. He opted just to pull on his pants, finding the night, and particularly the cell, now too hot for much else. He looked critically at Bo as she just lay there, a satisfied and sleepy grin on her face, hand over her head and twirling her hair.

"You're gonna make me dress you, ain't ya?" Daryl accused.

"You took 'em off." Bo defended. Daryl rolled his eyes but obliged the blonde's wishes, assisting her in dragging her panties and shorts back up and then wiggling into her tank top once more. They left the top nestled just under her breasts, allowing more skin to be revealed for a faster cool down. Daryl laid back with her, dragging her over to his chest so they could fit more comfortably on the bed. He already had plans to cut apart the bars to bring the top bunk down next to the bottom so that it could at least be longer.

"Bo Bo." Daryl muttered, darting his eyes down to the blonde head.

"Hmm?" Bo replied, drifting off already.

"I think someone heard you." Daryl pointed out, chuckling.

* * *

So this chapter is a little longer and definitely set as a treat for everyone wanting Bo and Daryl to finally reconcile. So viola, it is done. Next chapter: Shane, Andrea and Michonne in Woodbury!


	13. New Places and Old Faces

**New Places and Old Faces  
**

Yay almost time for the show to come back! Finally get to find out what happens in the fight ring! But for now, going to get some Rick loving because he deserves it. So between Woodbury stuff, there's gonna be Rick/Anna stuff, just to change it up a little.

* * *

"I DON'T NEED A FUCKING GUN TO KILL YOU NOW LET ME SEE HER!"

The very loud, incredibly angry and scared sounding voice was the first thing she heard. She groaned, her head throbbing and she carefully opened her eyes. Everything was sore and when that thump in her stomach came, a flash a panic followed by relief shot through her. Andrea looked around the room she was in and slowly pushed herself up just as the door was flung open. Shane stood there for a moment, taking her in. When he saw that she was fine, he stormed across the room, planted his hands either side of her head and kissed her.

"What happened?" Andrea asked quietly when she leaned back. Her eyes darted behind Shane and softened when they landed on Michonne. Behind the dark skinned woman stood Merle, looking all sorts of amused and pleased.

"You passed out right after Merle came up on us." Shane explained, sitting himself down on the bed next to her, still shielding her from the door. He rested a hand on her stomach and smiled as the growing being inside kicked up. Michonne moved to the end of the bed and crossed her arm. "Few hours ago, you woke up a bit on the way here but I think you were a little delirious then."

"And the baby's alright." Andrea muttered, looking down.

"Seems like it, far as their folks here can tell." Shane assured.

"So...where are we?" Andrea asked, looking over at Merle now and addressing the man she had known once.

"Place called Woodbury." Merle explained. He cocked a half grin and crossed his arms, the spike in place of his right hand currently not attached it seemed. "So...y'all get left behind too huh? That other copper ain't good at keeping folks, is he?"

"It wasn't like that." Shane snarled. "Rick and Daryl went back to get you, you just didn't bother to wait."

"And what's the excuse for you folks?" Merle asked. His eyes drifted pointedly to Andrea's belly.

"It's been eight months." Andrea pointed out, frowning. She didn't want Merle thinking the group had abandoned her and Shane, knowing that she was in this state. She hadn't even known until it started to show.

"You gonna be popping any day now." Merle chuckled. "Almost thought you woulda had to have that runt, what with you passing out and all."

"Merle, be nice to our guests." The new voice set the small group of three on alert as a middle aged man walked into the room with a pleasant smile on his face.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

Anna climbed up into the watch tower and looked at Rick, half dozing as he gazed out the overly large window. The woman sighed softly and went over to him. She dropped down next to him, causing him to jump as he became alert to her presence. She smiled and he relaxed before looping his arm over her shoulders and pulling her to his side.

"You think they're okay?" Anna asked softly.

"They're tough...survivors." Rick replied, knowing who she meant. She only ever brought up Shane and Andrea with Rick, the others so worried about what they'd do next that reminding them of their lost comrades just made them feel worse.

"Do you miss him?" Anna asked, tilting her head back to look up at the man next to her.

"Course, he's my best friend." Rick stated. He felt Anna nod before her head rested on his shoulder. He glanced down at her and rubbed her arm, kissing the top of her head. "How come you ain't sleeping?"

"Bo and Daryl are having sex." Anna remarked. Rick paused as the statement registered. He knew that they had finally gotten over their issues and had gotten physical again.

"They being noisy?" Rick asked.

"Oh, no." Anna laughed, shaking her head. "They're considerate. They ain't far enough away from the rest of us to get away with that. Mind you, I think they've done it up here when they go on watch together. Course, so do Maggie and Glen so really, probably do all their noise making up here."

Rick's eyes drifted around the watch tower, suddenly feeling dirty. Course he realized that was probably what was happening with the resident couples took watch together, but to have it actually be said out loud just made him want to get some sort of disinfectant and spray everything.

"So wait, if they ain't making noise, how come that's your excuse to not be sleeping?" Rick asked.

"Well you are sharing a cell with me." Anna reminded him. He looked down at her.

"You say it like that, just sounds so...bad." Rick commented, a smirk growing over his face. Anna laughed slightly and tilted her head up to kiss him. He couldn't help a groan as he suddenly realized that they were on their own for the first time since...well...ever. Aside from the trip to Atlanta, at which point neither of them had really considered the other to be anything more than added security and a potential friend.

With the thought of solitude on his mind, Rick deepened the kiss, tightening his arm over her shoulders and lifting his free hand to cup her cheek. Anna looped an arm around his neck then ended up on her back as he leaned her over. His hand drifted down from her cheek and along her side, his fingers teasing along the edge of her shirt then slowly slipping under.

"Can we do this?" Anna whispered. Her hand stalled as they moved to open the buttons on his shirt, her green eyes shifting upwards to look at his. One hand lifted to brush over the stubble that was growing out on his chin and she smiled softly to him.

"We can do whatever we want." Rick pointed out. He glanced back out the window to make sure everything was still good before he looked down at Anna's hands resuming their trek to opening his shirt. He smiled wickedly and pressed his lips to hers again.

After so many months and so much happening, it was a relief just when they finally pressed their bare skin against each other. For the first few minutes, they took to exploring each other's bodies with their hands. Rick ran his fingers over a scar that stretched from Anna's belly button to her left hip. It's jagged form made him wonder how she had come about such a thing. In return, Anna circled her fingertips over the bullet wound that Rick had received just before the apocalypse, one of the many reasons he had accepted her help in getting to Atlanta in the first place.

Anna's nails scored lightly up Rick's back before he thrust into her and for several seconds, they were still, letting it set in that they were actually doing this. It took Anna rotating her hips before they got to moving and figuring out a rhythm that fit for them and they rocked together, her mouth attaching to his neck to lay soft kisses and light nips.

Her nails dug into his shoulders and she felt his fingertips bruising her hips as he moved her along with his thrusts. There was a loud thud as her head fell back to the floor and she arched her back, moaning his name. Her name exited his mouth on a grunt and he gave a few more thrusts for good measure before stilling, buried within her still. His forehead rested on her shoulder as he took in deep breaths. Her fingers coursed up and down his back lightly, soothing. His eyes opened to watch her chest rise and fall with her breathing, slowing as it settled.

"Damn." Rick muttered with a chuckled.

"I've gone a hell of a lot longer than you have, cowboy." Anna remarked. Rick lifted his head and raised an eyebrow, now curious. "Been about a year before the outbreak so just about...two years for me now."

"Jesus Christ, should have done this earlier then." Rick spoke apologetically.

"When exactly was the chance available?" Anna laughed, her hands sliding over his shoulders to run down his chest and stomach. A shiver ran through him and she grinned. "Why do you think Glen and Maggie are all over each other here? First place we've had with privacy since the farm."

"Yeah." Rick agreed, running his fingers over her scar again. "How'd you get this?"

"One of my odd jobs over the years was a bartender at a real seedy place." Anna explained. She sighed and lightly grabbed his wrist. "Fight broke out one night when it was just me, the owner who was an old man, and another waitress who was a tiny little thing, working. It was only a couple of guys so I sorta didn't think when I got myself involved. Managed to knock out one of the guys, break a chair which ended up breaking the other guy's leg in the process, and get myself slashed in the process." She looked down and chuckled lightly, her fingers sliding over his hand to run over the scar themselves.

"Fuck." Rick muttered.

"Didn't even realize what had happened to me until I started feeling pain in my stomach after the cops had been called and arrived." Anna continued, lifting her eyes back up. "One of them noticed. See, my shirt was already red and any blood that might have gotten on my hands or anything, I just assumed came from one of the fighters." She paused when Rick was suddenly out of her sight and had himself level with her stomach. She looked down as he placed light kisses along the scar and couldn't help but laugh lightly at the sensation.

"Crazy woman, you are." Rick complimented.

"Hmm, thanks, that's what I strive for." Anna remarked with a laugh that quickly turned into a moan when Rick's head moved lower.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

"I don't trust him." Michonne muttered, following behind Shane and Andrea as they walked slowly up the street. The Governor had given them his talk and let them have free roam of the town. Andrea wanted to take advantage of it as much as possible since she had it in mind that she was likely going to have the kid any day now.

"What are you talking about?" The blonde asked. "This is...perfect. Look, everyone seems happy, safe."

"Even with Merle." Shane muttered, glancing around and catching sight of the older Dixon brother on top of the wall. "I don't know Andrea."

"It's safer than being out there." Andrea pointed out. "Isn't this what we were trying to find? Somewhere to hole up?" Her hand caressed her belly as she looked at the duo behind her. Shane bit his lip, looking her over. She did have a point. Despite how weird the Governor seemed to be and the fact that he was definitely hiding something, Andrea needed a secure place. Her fainting had been reason enough to believe that they couldn't keep running on their own.

"We can find somewhere else." Michonne argued.

"In time?" Andrea asked.

"She has a point." Shane reasoned, looking at Michonne. "I'm not trusting that guy anymore than you are but this place...all of it is just screaming safety to me."

"Yeah..safety." Michonne muttered.

"What is up with you?" Andrea asked. "This is what we've been aiming for. You can't honestly say you'd rather go back out there."

"I'd rather take my chances." Michonne shot back, walking off. Andrea blinked and stared after her then looked at Shane. She started to look doubtful and the deputy put an arm around her, kissing her temple and rubbing her shoulder.

"This place is great." Shane assured her. He glanced back over at Merle on the wall, now looking their way. "And Merle...seems better. I'm not going to let anything get to you or the baby when it comes."

"I just wish Michonne would think that way." Andrea muttered hopelessly. She liked the other woman and the thought of not having her around anymore didn't really settle right. What was it about the Governor...about Woodbury...that Michonne just couldn't seem to stand? They had talked the whole time since Andrea had accepted being pregnant about finding a secure place, possibly with other people, to stay at and have the baby. Now they had that place and Michonne just couldn't wait to leave.

It didn't make sense.

Andrea sighed and let Shane lead her back to where they were planning to stay. There was several things about pregnancy that she hated and one of those was her feet being sore easily. Thank God when her ankles did swell, they didn't go too much and she was still able to wear her boots or else there would have been some serious footwear issues.

* * *

So bit of a filler type. Once the new episode airs (and I watch it later on in the week SO DON'T GIVE ME SPOILERS IN REVIEWS) I'll work on the next chapter. Got a few things in mind, some possible new characters of my own mind work coming in. We'll see how that all goes.


	14. Behind Prison Walls

**Behind Prison Walls  
**

This chapter isn't going to really start off on a nice note. There's a few things I have to adjust to compensate for Rick sort of losing his mind in the show and such. Also I had a thought in my head, some more stuff for Bo since she's fairly mysterious lol.

* * *

"Let me look!" Bo snapped, forcing T-Dog to face her as he looked frantically around the corridor they were currently in, alarms blaring off around them.

"I know it ain't good, Bo." T-Dog stated. Bo looked hopelessly at his face before looking back at the bite on his shoulder. She couldn't even pull off what they had done for Hershel. The bite was too close to T-Dog's head and there was no way he would survive her cutting off what needed away. He frowned and shoved her along as walkers rounded a corner and spotted them. "Go on! We can't stand here!"

They ran down the corridor and fell through a set of double doors before shooting backwards and leaning on them just as the walkers started to push through. Bo gritted her teeth as she leaned on the door and frowned, watching T-Dog wavering.

"T! Hey! I need you, keep it together a little longer!" The med student demanded.

"I'm not gonna hold out longer." T-Dog informed her. Bo stared at him. "This is it for me, Bo. You go, get your ass away from here, find the others." He grabbed at her shirt and hauled her away from the doors before leaning fully on both of them. Bo stumbled and looked back at him, eyes widening as the doors opened slightly, arms coming through. "GO!"

Bo bit down on her lip before taking off across the room. She could hear the scream behind her from when the walkers finally got T-Dog and she leaned against a wall, eyes squeezed shut as she fought back the guilt that was piling up from leaving him. T-Dog had been there almost the whole walker mess. After Bo had gotten Glenn, it wasn't long before their car had broken down and then T-Dog had saved them. Even Shane had made the remark of them being a trio of crazy luck, always managing to survive somehow.

God, she hoped Glenn was okay.

A scrapping sound made her open her eyes and she looked back the way she came, finding the walkers coming her way.

"Fucking bitch." Bo muttered, starting her run again. She shot down the corridor and swung around a corner. The sight of more walkers that way made her halt and stare. She stepped back, her mind shooting into overdrive as she tried to figure out what to do.

Quieted gun shots made her jump as the walkers in front of her were dispatched and she looked up to see Maggie and Carl on the other side.

"Bo!" Carl greeted excitedly. The blonde smiled and hurried over to them, grabbing them and taking off. "No, no we just came that way."

"Well we can't go back my way, there's a bunch coming." Bo pointed out.

"Good thing there's a third option." Maggie decided. The three of them ran, hearing the snarls behind them. Around another corner they found two walkers which Carl quickly took down. A scream up ahead made them pause and look at each other. It sounded female but it didn't seem to sound like Anna or Beth, it was too young for either.

"Oh damn, come on." Bo instructed, taking off for the sound.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD*** _

"So are you two prepared for this?" The Governor asked, sitting back in his chair with a drink in his hand and a pleasant smile on his face. Andrea and Shane sat across from him, sharing identical shrugs of uncertainty as their eyes drifted down to the woman's stomach.

"Out there, it was a really scary idea." Andrea admitted.

"I'm sure you'll make a good mother." The Governor stated. Andrea smiled slightly while Shane looked down at the liquid in his glass. He tapped his fingers on the sides and contemplated how things were. "You're looking pretty deep in thought there, Officer. Anything bothering you?"

"Something's always bothering me." Shane admitted. "Usually something small but there's always something that just makes me wonder."

"Anything I can ease your mind about?" The Governor asked. Shane gave a slight half smile before shaking his head. The other man didn't seem overly convinced but he accepted the response with a nod before finishing the remainder of his drink.

"You know, you guys are being cruel drinking those around me." Andrea pointed out, trying to lighten the mood. Her attempt was successful when Shane laughed and put the glass on the table, pushing it away. The governor put his empty glass on the table and smiled at the pregnant woman. "Did you ever have kids?"

"Two." The Governor answered, his smile fading off. "Daughters."

"Are they..." Shane faded off in his question, unsure of how to ask.

"The one...I'm not sure." The Governor admitted. He sighed and ran a hand over his face. "She...took off with some guy years ago. Haven't ever heard from her since." Andrea stared sympathetically at the man who was offering shelter to them. "Not a day goes by that I don't wonder if she's alive or not."

"You haven't ever found?" Shane asked.

"I tried." The Governor defended softly. "Good lord, did I ever try. But she didn't wanna be found." He stood up and went to his desk, picking up a picture. "Stubborn woman. There was such an age difference between the two girls. Sometimes I wondered if that's what caused some sort of...resentment. So many years of affection and attention on the one, then suddenly there's a new one getting all that."

"I doubt it was your fault." Andrea tried to assure. "Girls are...we're a crazy bunch." Shane smiled at the woman next to him and she just rolled her eyes at him.

"I just...hope...she's alive, where ever she's ended up." The Governor muttered. Shane paused and looked at the man, frowning slightly. Something about how he had said that just didn't seem to sit right.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

Rick looked around the yard, Daryl and Glenn doing the same, all three a little frantic. They had found the culprit behind the alarm and had fixed the issue with help from Axel and Oscar. Now they were just hoping to be able to regroup with everyone.

A door opened and Beth came out slowly, Hershel behind her and right behind him, gun up in one hand and a machete in the other, came Anna. Rick sighed, some of his tension fading off at seeing part of the group well. The three of them joined the others, Glenn giving Beth a hug and Rick wrapping an arm around Anna's shoulders, kissing her forehead.

"Where's everyone else?" Beth asked.

"Don't know yet." Daryl grumbled, frowning. His eyes darted around to all the doorways, just waiting for his little blonde woman to step out. One of the doors opened and all eyes shot in that direction. Carl ran out and behind him was Maggie, a young girl riding on her back. Rick blinked, confused by the presence of the child. Maggie crouched to lower the girl onto a bench for her father to examine.

She couldn't have been any older than Carl. Judging by her state of being, she had likely been in survival mode for a while, possibly on her own. How she managed it was anyone's guess. Hershel sat himself on the bench next to her and carefully lifted the girl's leg where everyone could see swelling around her ankle.

"What happened?" Rick asked, looking at Carl as his son came to him.

"When we all split up, me and Maggie were running." Carl explained. "We came on Bo and...and she said that T-Dog sacrificed himself to give her time to keep going."

"Where is she?" Daryl asked.

"I...I don't know." Carl confessed, dipping his head slightly. "We found her...the girl...and then we ended up in a cell block where the only other way out was blocked up by walkers. There was ones coming behind us and Bo didn't want us shooting anymore. So she ran a distraction so me and Maggie and the girl could get out."

"That damn bitch." Daryl growled, throwing his arm in the air. He pointed at Carl. "How long ago was that?"

"About...ten minutes...maybe." Carl replied. Daryl gave a short nod and headed the way that Carl and Maggie had come from. "There's walkers everywhere."

"I'll deal with that." Daryl shot back. "Stupid goddamn bitch doesn't know when to keep herself safe..." His cursing was cut off by the door closing behind him and everyone looked at each other.

"She hasn't said a word to us." Carl explained when he saw his father turn his eyes back on the girl. "She was surrounded by walkers when we found her. Don't know how she got in or...if there's other people around we should be worrying about."

"We'll figure something out." Rick assured, patting Carl's shoulder. "Point is you saved her. We're going to have to watch her, make sure she doesn't try something on us, but we'll be good." Carl nodded and looked over at the girl.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

"I can't believe you're really going to do this." Andrea stated, watching Merle open the gate for Michonne to leave.

"I can't believe you're not." Michonne shot back.

"Think this through, Michonne." Shane pleaded. He wouldn't admit it but he actually had grown to like this woman and having her around. It was a comfort, knowing that she would be there to help Andrea if he wasn't able to for any reason.

"This place ain't right and I'm not going to sit around and wait for the time when things get crazy." Michonne remarked. Her eyes shot down to Andrea's belly for a moment before she sighed and shook her head. Without another word, she turned and walked out the gate. Merle looked at the couple before closing it up behind the dark skinned woman.

That final snap of the gate closing sent a wave of uncertainty over Shane as he glanced around. Sure, the Governor was suspicious and Merle was...well...Merle...but no one else seemed that bad. What was it about this place that Michonne just didn't understand or trust? He could see it in her eyes that something had spooked her but he didn't know what it could be and obviously she wasn't talking. Just that thought alone got him angry and resentful at her. She expected them to follow her but wouldn't give a reason why? Well to hell with that.

Stuff turned crazy half way through Shane's mental cursing if his eight month companion when Andrea suddenly doubled over next to him. He looked at her quickly and blinked rapidly, pushing his brain to function. She grabbed his arm and groaned and it finally hit him.

She had gone into labour.

* * *

So it's been a while. I just now finally got to see episode 10 (after episode 11 airs, stupid On Demand and work). I really have no idea on how to send Rick into crazy town or even if I want to. Obviously by this point in the show, it's beginning as this is when Lori dies, but in my stuff, she's already been dead for months.

So who can tell me what they think is going to happen in upcoming chapters?


	15. Cell Block Tango

**Cell Block Tango**

So I fucked myself up on this one lol. It was a little funny, as I was writing the first part, I was doing it just as it came to me and then I got stumped at the same time as the character and went looking around at everything to think of something that could be used and finally came up with a thought that fitted to them.

And then I went and wrote smut lol.

* * *

Andrea wasn't entirely sure of what she became aware of first: the voices, the pressure, or the crying. She knew she hadn't gone unconscious but she also knew that she had drifted off, her mind had gone elsewhere when labour had hit. She knew what she had to make her body do but she didn't want to pay attention. She wasn't even sure how long it had been but she could hear her name being called so she drew her mind back in and blinked her heavy eyes, looking around.

The first thing she saw was Shane, an awed sort of look on his face with his head tilted downward. He looked at Andrea then smiled and tilted his arms, finally showing her the little being that had been growing within her for the last while. She pushed herself up into a more seated position, wincing at the slight discomfort, and couldn't help the smile that came over her face as she looked at the small child in her lover's arms.

"You did really well." Milton praised from across the room, cleaning up some equipment that had been used. Andrea couldn't keep the smile off her face, especially when Shane passed over the baby.

"Can I come in?" The Governor asked, knocking on the door and opening it slightly. Shane cast a wary eye at him but gave a consenting nod and kept an eye on the man as he strode into the room with a happy smile on his face. "The delivery went well then?"

"Yeah." Andrea replied quietly. Her eyes and fingers resting softly on the infant's face.

"What's our newest arrival?" The Governor questioned curiously.

"Little girl." Shane stated, looking slightly awed as he took his eyes off the man to look down at his daughter.

"Got a name for the new little missy then?" The Governor asked.

Shane and Andrea both paused and looked at each other, stumped. All this time, they hadn't even bothered to think of any names. There was always something to do, something going on, they just couldn't think of anything. There was a long pause as they alternated studying each other and the baby, trying to figure something out.

"Amy." Andrea suggested softly. Shane paused then smiled, realizing the significance of the name. He nodded and leaned over, kissing Andrea's forehead then looking at the baby girl.

"I'll let you two get yourselves acquinted with your new baby." The Governor stated, backing out of the room and nodding at Milton who quickly moved to join him in exiting. "Congratulations." With that, the miniature family was left alone to get to know it's newest member.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

He followed the trail of rotten bodies, slashes and gashes over their heads, some without the tops of their heads, just their jaws still attached to the body. He found one of her boots and bit his lip, frowning. He took out a walker here and there, gradually getting more and more irritated. If he found her alive, she was getting an earful, damn trail lead into a cell block almost at the other end of the prison and he looked down the stairs, almost surprised by what he saw.

There she was, leaning back against the wall, covered in walker goo, casually wiping off her knife. There were several bodies scattered at the far end of the block. She lifted her blonde head and locked eyes with him then smiled when she saw him.

"Been busy?" Daryl asked casually, shouldering his crossbow and walking down the stairs slowly. His irritation balancing between just slightly there and nearly forgotten.

"You could say that." Bo replied softly. She put her knife away in it's holster. "Maggie and Carl and the girl get to you guys safe?"

"Yeah, everyone is good." Daryl assured. Bo smiled and nodded. She watched him and waited until he was closer. He held out her boot and she slowly put it on, not bothering to make an attempt at cleaning off the mess over her foot and calf. "So when did your little massacre stop?"

"About five minutes ago." Bo remarked, looking over the hunter. Her chest rose and fell slowly as she controlled her breathing. Her tongue darted out and ran along her lips, contemplating and wondering. "Still a little pumped up on adrenaline so...you're gonna get messy."

"Why would I..." Daryl was cut off by Bo grabbing his shirt and yanking him closer, crashing her lips to his. He slammed his hands against the wall either side of her head and deepened the already frantic kiss. Now he understood what she meant as she pressed their bodies closer. It seemed like how things were at the beginning, if Bo accompanied him on hunting trips when he was still teaching her. If they ever ran into a pack of walkers and took them out, the adrenaline got to them and they ended up just in a frantic session.

Her hands scrambled to yank his shirt up and over his head without parting their lips. He chuckled when she whimpered at her failed attempts and moved back long enough to let her get the shirt off. He pulled open the buttons on her shirt and pushed aside the bloodied clothing, running his hands over her stomach and up toward her breasts.

"What's with that kid?" Daryl asked, working the tie on her shorts.

"Found her...surrounded...by walkers." Bo muttered, taking up nibbling on his neck. Daryl felt his eyes roll and then they both paused, hearing a groan. They looked at each other and then he lifted her leg around his waist, taking the knife out of her boot and then flinging it straight into the eye of a staggering walker that just came across them. "We are so fucking twisted."

"You think?" Daryl laughed. He wound her other leg around his waist and carried her into a cell. "We've just gotten hot over killing fucking walkers."

"Now that would be a sight." Bo mused. "Fucking walkers." Daryl paused and stared at her then they both burst into laughter as he dropped her onto the hard bed.

"Fucking psycho bitch." He growled, finally yanking off the shorts.

"Damn straight!" Bo declared proudly. She wiggled her legs, working his pants down his thighs. "Now for fuck sake, Dixon, adrenaline don't last all day!"

"Fucking bossy psycho bitch." Daryl corrected, right before shoving into her roughly. He smirked smugly as she gasped loudly, eyes rolling. "Oh yeah, baby, we can make some noise over here."

"Then get to doing the stuff that really makes me make noise." Bo challenged. Daryl accepted with an evil little grin as he thrust harder and bit gently into her neck. She groaned, her back arching, and he dropped his mouth further down her body to encase a nipple in his mouth. His arms wound tightly around her waist and suddenly she found herself off the bed and against a wall. One of her hands fell onto his shoulder as the other scrambled around, looking for something to hold. Her hips rolled against him as his thrusts picked a speed they could use. Her back slid across the wall and she gripped onto the bars for the cell door.

Her gasps and moans echoed out around the cell block, followed by his grunts and the occasional groan as she tightened her muscles around him. By the time he could tell she was getting closer, he had already bruised up her neck and along her chest. He took pride in his handiwork of marking her as his. If, by this point, this wasn't enough to convince Bo and everyone else that he had finally accepted the way they were, then nothing would.

"Daryl...fuck..." Bo gasped in his ear. She pulled his lobe between her teeth as she came undone around him, moaning loudly. The rough bite on something so tender was the push he needed to follow her over and they collapsed again onto the bed.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

"So what do we do about her?" Beth asked softly, glancing over to where Carl and the young girl were sitting silently. Carl seemingly had no problem with sitting out of the discussion and no one was going to question it since it helped them out a lot. Bo and Daryl had rejoined the group just minutes before and both had quickly changed out of their stained and messed up clothing. Bo's blonde hair was getting to be tinted red from the amount of times she had gotten blood in it.

"Well we can't just send her off." The med student declared. "I mean look at her, she's so damn skinny, however she managed to survive, there's no way that's lasting much longer."

"Plus she's just a kid." Maggie pointed out.

"I don't think she's going to try and hurt any of us." Glenn muttered, a little uncertain. He glanced over at the girl. "I mean...she barely talks."

"Someone might come looking for her." Rick pointed out, although it seemed like a fairly weak argument, even to himself. One look at the girl, with her tattered clothes, messy hair, dirty and bruised skin and now sprained ankle...if there was someone who was or had been with her, they obviously weren't too fussed over her.

"Might be good for both her and Carl to have someone around their age to be around." Anna mused thoughtfully. Rick nodded his agreement. He had known his son hadn't been the same since they had found Sophia stumbling out of the barn as a walker.

"We should see about finding her something better to wear." Bo decided. "Something that may actually fit."

"I'll go do a search." Glenn volunteered.

"I'm so not letting you go without me." Bo informed him, grinning. Glenn shot her a smile and nodded. Everyone knew without it needing saying that the two wanted to play catch up and grieve together over the loss of T-Dog. They hadn't spent much time together in the past few months and this would be their way to reenforce their friendship.

Several minutes later, Glenn was driving through the gates and heading out with Bo to do a supply run.

* * *

So who knows, or at least figures they know, what'll happen next? It's gonna be a doozy, that's for sure.

Oh yeah, I said doozy, because that's how I roll!


	16. Unhappy Reunion

**Unhappy Reunion  
**

So because A) I can't really remember what was said between Michonne and the prison folk, and B) I got a lot of stuff going to happen in Woodbury, I'm just doing the Woodbury stuff in this chapter.

* * *

"Remember when we first joined the Atlanta guys?" Glenn asked, smiling.

"Yeah." Bo laughed, shaking her head. "T-Dog with his...damn white people problems." Glenn laughed and pulled things off the shelf to put into his basket. "Think we got enough stuff?"

"I think so." Glenn replied, looking at everything piled in the basket. Bo put an arm around his shoulders and kissed his cheek before they headed out of the shop. "I think I love...like...really...love Maggie."

"That's awesome!" Bo declared, smiling brightly. Glenn smiled back, happy of the approval. "So you gonna do something about that?"

"I...what?" Glenn asked.

"Well there's no real conventional way of it anymore but come on, pretty sure if you ask her daddy, you guys can get hitched somehow." Bo pointed out. Glenn stared at her as they walked to the van. They stopped just at the back, getting ready to open the trunk and put everything away when something caught his eye behind the blonde. She raised an eyebrow when she saw his attention going elsewhere, eyes widening, then turned when there was coughing.

Coming their way, looking like he had gotten a decent beating, was none other than Merle Dixon.

"Holy shit balls." Bo muttered. "Merle?"

"Well hey now." Merle spoke up as he recognized the duo. "If it ain't my brother's fuck buddy and the little asian boy."

"Korean." Bo and Glenn stated at the same time.

"How'd you get off the roof?" Glenn asked.

"Well certainly not with any help from you lot." Merle grumbled. He paused and looked them over carefully before lifting his right arm, pointing the blade at them. "My brother still with you guys?"

"Yeah." Bo replied warily. "We can bring him to you. If you actually wait this time." Merle started shaking his head, frowning. "We're not bringing you back with us, Merle."

"I gotta see him." Merle declared, moving closer to them.

"Then sit and wait." Glenn instructed, frowning. He put his arm out to pull Bo behind him.

"I ain't getting left behind again!" Merle snarled.

"If you had just waited, you wouldn't have been!" Bo snapped.

"Waited huh? Waited for them damn biters to get at me?" Merle questioned. Bo frowned and reached for her gun as Merle got closer, his bladed arm swinging wildly in his anger. He suddenly pulled his own gun out, causing Bo and Glenn to freeze. "Not so fast kids."

Glenn made a move for his gun, trying to be quick. Bo shoved him sideways just as Merle fired a shot and lunged. The back window of the van blew out, Glenn went one direction around the vehicle, Bo went the other. Glenn took his gun out and moved around the van, getting ready to aim and then freezing when he found Merle holding his blade at Bo's throat and his gun pointing at the other man.

"I may be getting old, but I'm still smarter than you two." Merle pointed out. "Now we're gonna go for a ride. Be a good boy and let me and the doc in."

Glenn shared a look with Bo and when she nodded slightly, he consented to the demand and slid the back door open. Merle pushed Bo inside and then kept the gun trained on Glenn as the younger man moved around to the driver seat.

Behind an old abandoned van, Michonne watched with dark, uncertain eyes as the trio drove away, back in the direction that she had come from and she knew damn well where Merle was taking them. Her eyes landed on the basket of supplies and a plan formed in her mind.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

Andrea watched with a soft smile on her face as the Governor walked slowly around the room, baby Amy in his arms. Shane sat on the edge of the table, on hand on Andrea's knee as he too watched the other man. He couldn't help the slight twitch that developed around his eye as he watched his daughter being carried by this man.

"This really is a blessing in these times." The Governor declared. Amy shifted around in his arms, starting to get fussy. In an instant, Shane was up, arms out to take the baby back. The Governor looked at the father then down at the little girl. For a moment it seemed as if he wasn't going to hand her over but then he slowly gave the child to her parent. Amy calmed instantly as her wide blue eyes, taken from her mother, laid upon the comforting face of her father.

"Excuse me, Governor." Merle announced his arrival with a knock on the door that was already slightly opened to begin with. All eyes turned to him, taking in the bandage he had across the bridge of his nose. Shane frowned slightly, wondering about it and not at all liking the way the older Dixon ran his eyes over them.

"One minute." The Governor excused himself from Andrea and Shane before walking out of the room and closing the door, facing the slightly shorter man in the hallway. "Did you find her?"

"She's dead." Merle declared. The Governor nodded, looking happy. "I found a couple of other people...from my brother's group."

"So they know Andrea and Shane?" The Governor asked. Merle nodded. "You recognize them?"

"Both, little asian guy, Glenn." Merle explained. He looked around the hallway then looked carefully at the Governor. "And the doc girl who was sleeping with my brother. Got them in separate rooms so..."

"I'll talk with the girl, you find out what you can about where the rest of the group is from the boy." The Governor instructed. "Use whatever means you need." Merle grinned slightly and walked away. His grin faded slowly and he frowned, wondering about the feeling that was suddenly creeping up on him.

The Governor went back into the room and raised an eyebrow as Shane, who had apparently just been talking to Andrea, suddenly stopped. The blonde woman was frowning, looking a little puzzled.

"Everything alright?" The Governor asked.

"Just talking over options for things." Shane replied simply. The Governor nodded his head, not entirely believing but not arguing. His eyes locked with Shane's and something passed between them, a silent resentment.

"There's something I need to go and deal with." The Governor declared, turning his gaze to Andrea and softening it, adding a smile. "Nothing big."

"Maybe I can help." Shane volunteered. The Governor was caught off guard by that and he began wondering if the other man had heard his conversation with Merle.

"It won't take long, you just spend time with your family." The Governor stated, nodding down at Amy still resting in Shane's arms. He slowly turned away from the couple and walked back out of the room, leaving them alone once more.

"I don't trust him." Shane stated quietly.

"Really?" Andrea asked. She blinked, confused, when Shane put Amy in her arms. "Whoa, hey, hang on, what are you going to do?"

"I just want to know what's going on." Shane declared carefully. Andrea frowned at him. "If it's really nothing, I will drop it forever."

"You're going to get in trouble." Andrea argued.

"I'll be careful." Shane assured. He leaned down and kissed her when she tried to speak again. Andrea sighed against his lips and rested her forehead on his head when he leaned back. "Trust me."

"You damn well better be careful." Andrea whispered. Shane grinned and kissed her forehead before quickly exiting the room and going off to find the Governor. Sighing, the woman rose out of her seat and walked around the room that belonged to their host. It was her first time truly alone in it and now curiosity was setting in. She should have left, this was intruding on his privacy now. But first Michonne had been suspicious and left and now Shane was doing this, her curiosity was peaked, she had to find something to help her in whatever way.

That something came in the form of a picture perched on the desk of a little family. The Governor's family. There was a woman that Andrea assumed was his wife, looking pale and maybe even a little weak. Sitting in front of the couple was two girls, the youngest looking to be about three and the older one looking about sixteen. It was the older of the two children that really caught Andrea's attention. Blonde hair, blue eyes, a smile so fake, a posture leaning ever so slightly away from the others, and so incredibly familiar that Andrea had a hard time even thinking as she stared down at the teenaged version of Bo.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

Bo paced around her room, gnawing on her lower lip as she listened to the sounds of Glenn struggling in the next room. From the sounds of things, a walker had been released in with him. She kicked at her door and frowned, hoping like hell that Glenn was as capable as she believed him to be. She ran her hands through her hair and listened, moving across the room to lean on the wall that separated the two rooms.

Snarls and crashes and the occasional yell echoed through the wall. Bo frowned, tasting blood from the amount of pressure she had been applying to her lip with her teeth. She licked at the damaged flesh and groaned, hitting the wall.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Bo snarled, teeth gritting together. "FUCKING MERLE!"

She froze when the door of the room opened but refused to turn around. She heard it close again, knew that it was locked and probably that someone on the other side was waiting for her new companion to announce that they wanted out before it could be opened again. She kept the side of her head against the wall, listening to the continued struggles, her hand balling into a fist next to her head.

"So you're the doctor." The voice that reached her ears made her pause as her brain struggled with figuring out why it sounded familiar. "I heard some about you from Merle. You and his brother. If Daryl's anything like Merle, I'm surprised at a girl like you."

A cold hand gripped around her insides as the familiarity registered and she tensed up.

"Never told me a name though." The Governor stated casually as he walked towards the woman. "So tell me, who do I get to deal with?"

"You gotta be fucking kidding me." Bo grumbled. The Governor tilted his head, a slow grin. It faded off however, as the woman turned to face him. The recognition slowly grew in his eyes as they widened in disbelief. Bo's eyes narrowed and her fists hang motionless and waiting at her sides.

"Isabeau." The Governor whispered.

"So when did you finally notice I was gone?" Bo asked bitterly. The Governor's face darkened as he frowned. "Was it before or after mom died?"

"You never..." The Governor started.

"I never what?" Bo snapped. "Never stuck around for the time where your yelling would become fists flying? Never stuck around to watch mom deteriorate after getting sick? Like you even gave a damn. If you had any sort of care, you would have called. You would have done something. Did Penny put up with it? Or was she just the perfect little princess that you wanted so badly."

Her back hit the wall with enough force that her vision blurred for a few seconds. The Governor held her by her shoulders, his grip tight and bruising. Bo just glared at him, facing off against her oldest demon.

"Shut up." The Governor snarled darkly.

"You're gonna be so screwed." Bo whispered. Her head snapped to the side when he slapped her and she slowly turned it back, the defiant expression still on her face.

"Do they know you abandoned your family for a man that you're obviously not still with?" The Governor asked.

"Does it kill you that mom told me to leave?" Bo shot back, eyebrow lifting. He frowned at her, eyes narrowing dangerously. "She would have left if she could. Told me to go, to get out while I could." He threw her across the room and into the table and all she did was laugh.

"You disrespect insolent little creature." The Governor growled. He moved towards her and stopped when the door opened. Martinez stood there with an expression on his face that clearly said something was up. The Governor frowned at the interruption, shot one more look at Bo as she stood by the table, rubbing her bright red cheek, and finally left the room.

"The cop's asking questions." Martinez whispered.

"Where is he?" The Governor asked.

"Outside." Martinez replied. The Governor nodded, taking a moment to consider his options. "What do you want done with these guys?"

"I want the boy taken out." The Governor decided. "The girl...tie her up and lock her in my room. Make sure Shane and Andrea don't see her." With that said, he walked away to go deal with his next issue.

* * *

So I haven't seen the last episode yet so NO ONE TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS! I already know about Merle because damn people on facebook, but please don't say anything about it.


	17. Traitors

**Traitors  
**

I watched it! Oh my god! Damn it. Definitely leads to a little bit of rethinking of things to do but I got my ideas boiling away.

* * *

Shane watched as the Governor walked over to him, the good natured smile in place. He wasn't buying it though, something was up. He glanced back in the direction the other man had come from and saw Martinez ducking back through a doorway. A frowned creased over his face as he thought about what could be happening.

"It's getting near curfew." The Governor declared. He put a hand on top of his gun, a casual action that still set Shane on alert. "What can I do for you?"

"I was just curious about what happens in there." Shane stated simply with a shrug. He held his hand over his own gun, having gotten it back, not without a fierce argument. Even Andrea got hers and kept it on her person at all times as per Shane's request to keep herself and the baby safe.

"Oh it's nothing to worry about, just some stock talk." The Governor assured him. He nodded his head and started walking. Shane glanced back and frowned slightly but followed the other man. "Looks like we're going to do a supply run soon."

"Martinez was pretty adamant about me not going in." Shane pointed out, glancing sideways to see the Governor's reaction. "Something more than stock talk is going on."

"You shouldn't worry yourself needlessly." The Governor laughed.

"I never worry needlessly." Shane insisted. He stopped walking, frowning. "All my worries generally have a base of truth. So what's going on?" Sounds behind him made him spin around to see what was happening as the Governor frowned. Martinez was moving along the sidewalk but he wasn't alone. He was pulling someone along with him.

A female someone with blonde hair.

"What the hell is he doing?" Shane asked, loudly. His voice echoed across to the struggling pair and the blonde woman twisted around, looking past Martinez as he kept a tight hold on her. Shane only needed that few seconds of unobstructed view to recognize who it was. "Bo?"

"You know her?" The Governor asked.

"She's part of my group, what's going on?" Shane questioned, caught between facing the man he was talking to and watching Bo getting pulled off.

"We found her in the woods, she killed several of the men." The Governor explained.

"There's gotta be a mistake." Shane argued, finally facing the Governor but making a slight move, ready to go after Martinez. "Bo...she's a med student...she's basically the doctor for the group. She wouldn't just kill someone without a damn good reason."

"You've been separated from your group for eight months." The Governor reminded him. His hand gripped at his gun and Shane's eyes darted down to it. "That's a longer time then you've actually known her isn't it? Things could have changed."

"I gotta talk to her." Shane decided, turning to go after Martinez.

"You can't do that!" The Governor declared harshly. Shane halted then slowly turned back to face the man.

Things happened far too quickly after that.

There was yelling from the building the Governor had exited and then the street was covered in smoke. Shots rang out and Shane took that chance to dart away, unsure of what was happening but definitely intending on finding out. He drew out his gun and ducked into a shop doorway, looking around. He could hear whispered voices nearby and frowned. He turned and aimed his gun, blinking at a gun being aimed right at him.

A familiar gun.

"Shane?" Rick's voice brought Shane out of examining the weapon in his face to looking at the man holding it.

"Rick!" His relief was evident in his tone as he dropped his gun and wrapped an arm around his friend in a quick hug. He looked behind him to find a man he didn't recognize, a beat up looking Glenn, Daryl, Maggie and Michonne.

"What are you doing here?" Rick asked.

"I've...been here for a while." Shane replied, confused. He looked at Michonne. "You didn't tell them?"

"All we got from her was that Glenn and Bo were here." Daryl answered instead, looking pissed. "Then Glenn tells us Merle is around."

"Yeah." Shane confirmed, looking around. "Andrea's here...and...the baby. Crap, Rick, I gotta get to them."

"There's a baby?" Rick asked.

"I'll explain later, you guys go." Shane instructed. "I'll find Bo, I saw her getting pulled away just a few minutes ago."

"Where to?" Daryl demanded.

"Just go, I'll get her!" Shane snapped. Daryl didn't look happy but then they all flinched and ducked as shots rang out again. "Get going!" Shane took off through the smoke without another word.

"Come on." Rick ordered, moving out. Oscar and Maggie, both helping Glenn, followed quickly behind him, firing their guns as they went. Michonne moved swiftly after them, slicing her sword through anything that came too near to her. She glanced back, her eyes searching for the Governor's place through the chaos and the smoke. A shot went past her and she turned to watch Oscar fall to the ground. Maggie yelled to Michonne to move as she shot Oscar in the head to save him from returning as a walker. The dark skinned woman frowned but hurried after the others over the wall.

None of them noticed until they were ducked down behind a car that Daryl wasn't with them.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

Bo listened to the gun shots from out the window and contemplated how much she'd hurt if she jumped out. Shaking her head, she moved around the room, trying to find something, anything to use. She tested a door that wouldn't open and frowned, giving it a few experimental tugs then kicking the doorknob until it broke.

"Let's see what dear old dad has...oh my god." Bo muttered, walking into the room and staring at the museum of walker heads. She frowned and shook her head, grabbing up the lamp off the little table by the chair. "Fuck this, let's cause some chaos." She tested the weight of the lamp before smashing it through the glass tanks. She tossed the lamp and picked up a large piece of glass. A noise caught her attention and she turned to the cage in the room.

Someone was inside it.

Bo moved over to the cage and was glad that the Governor didn't remember to actually lock it up. She pulled the padlock off and opened the door carefully, watching with wide eyes as a little girl with her arms tied back and a bag over her head walked out.

"Holy fucking shit." Bo whispered, frowning deeply. "Penny?" The girl jerked, turning in the direction of the voice. Bo rushed around and worked the chain loose, not noticing the state of the girl's arms. "That sick son of a bitch. What the hell happened in the time that I was gone to get him this fucking demented?" Penny just whimpered as the chain came free from the wall. "Alright kiddo, I didn't like you before but even you don't deserve this bullshit." Bo finally pulled the bag off Penny's head and then paused, staring at the walker face of the young girl.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" The Governor's yell made the young woman whip around. Bo jumped into action, grabbing the chain and holding the piece of glass. "NO! Isabeau please. She's your sister."

"She's a fucking walker you sick psychotic freak." Bo shot back. The Governor kept his hands up and out, a pleading look on his face. "How'd it happen?"

"She got bit." The Governor explained desperately. Bo tilted her head, almost looking like she was considering. The second the man's hands dropped just slightly, she rammed the glass down through Penny's eye with enough force that part of her hand went through as well. The Governor screamed his fury and launched himself across the room, knocking Bo down into the cage. She yelped and struggled, pushing at him in her desperate attempt to get away. She shot her hand forward, her thumb ramming directly into the Governor's eye and burying into the socket, destroying the eyeball in the process. He fell off her in pain and she tried to crawl. Her attempt was thwarted as he just grabbed at her legs, tugging her backwards viciously.

"LET ME GO!" Bo screamed.

"You...are my child." The Governor stated. He pulled her part way and threw her straight back into the cage. Her head cracked off the wall and she slumped to the floor. He rose to his feet and staggered backwards until he was outside then swung the door shut and locked it up. His anger overclouded the pain from his eye as he looked in at his newest prisoner. "And as such...you will stay with me."

"You're gonna piss off the wrong people." Bo managed to get out. Her vision swam and she knew she was seconds from fainting from her impact. She looked to where the figure of the man who had once been her father stood and glared with all her built up hatred for him. "I'm not sorry...for anything."

The Governor's mild triumphant expression fell as he watched Bo succumb to her head wound.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

Shane kept his arm around Andrea's shoulders as she cradled Amy in a sling across her body at her chest. She wasn't sure what was going on but she trusted whatever Shane told her and went along with whatever he possibly had planned. They stood in the crowd as it gathered around a ring. Both of them had heard from Milton about the fights that happened, how they had missed the last one due to the birth of Amy. It was almost intriguing to both of them, how things went, but at the same time, they weren't ready (nor did they think they'd ever be ready) to descend to that level of actually enjoying it.

But there they stood, with something in mind, among the crowd of people as the Governor stood near the edge of the ring, Merle at his side. Neither of them were sure what to think about the patch he had over his eye and they weren't sure if they even wanted to know.

"Are you sure about this?" Andrea whispered.

"Just trust me." Shane whispered back, kissing her head. "We just need the right kind of distraction. Rick is outside. Michonne's with him." Andrea's head snapped up in surprise. "I'll explain everything later, we just need..." He paused when the Governor stepped forward to become the centre of attention.

"We've been attacked!" The Governor called out. "These...terrorists...wish to put fear in us!" The crowd murmured amongst themselves and Shane dropped his free hand to his gun, unsure if he would need to draw it out. "I'm sad to announce that there is a traitor among us."

Andrea and Shane both tensed up, trying to keep their faces expressionless. Amy fussed slightly in her mother's arms but kept relatively quiet.

There was cursing before part of the crowd split and a few of the guys pulled Daryl into the ring. Merle stared in surprise as his baby brother was tossed to the ground, hands tied behind his back. The older Dixon was shoved forward as well and he looked around, wondering who's blood was going on his blade for that.

"I'm sad to say that Merle...the man we all trusted...has betrayed us." The Governor declared to the crowd. Jeers were called out from the mass and Daryl slowly rose to his feet, working his hands free of their ties. "This man here...is Merle's own brother. Part of the group that attacked us and killed our men."

"Oh god." Andrea muttered. "We need to do something."

"Like what?" Shane asked.

"What will be their punishment?" The Governor called out, looking at the crowd.

People screamed their answers, several demanding for death. Andrea felt sick as she watched the Governor, the man she thought they could actually trust, smile at the demands.

"The people have spoken!" The Governor announced. He looked at the Dixon brothers, both of whom were glaring at him. "FIGHT TO THE DEATH!"

"Any plans?" Daryl asked, glancing at his brother.

"Just one." Merle replied, just before swinging his fist into Daryl's head. The younger fell to the ground, his brother getting down with him. "Play along baby brother, we gotta get our way out of this." Daryl frowned and shoved Merle off, both getting to their feet and launching attacks on each other.

Several of the men brought out chained walkers, circling them around the ring and extending the chains to allow them to get closer to the fighting men.

"Move." Shane urged Andrea, tugging gently at her shoulders. They backed through the crowd, taking towards an opening. There was a slight whistle and both of them shot their hands to the guns, turning to face what had made the noise. Rick waved carefully at them just before he threw out a smoke bomb. "Cover Amy's head and let's go!"

Andrea was already a step ahead of him, having pulled the fabric of the sling over her child's head and rushing forward as the bomb soared through the air. The crowd went into panic again, shots getting fired once more. People ran in all directions, trying to avoid the flying bullets and the now loose walkers. Rick grabbed the couple and pulled them to the hole in the wall that Maggie and Michonne were standing guard at.

"Where's Bo?" Rick asked.

"I couldn't find her." Shane replied, frowning.

"Bo's here?" Andrea asked.

"Merle grabbed her and Glenn." Rick explained quickly. Andrea looked at Michonne carefully before she went through the hole. Daryl and Merle were right after them, everyone going through and saying nothing until they got far enough away and then the head count happened and the inevitable anger came from the younger of the Dixon brothers.

"Where the fuck is Bo?" Daryl asked angrily.

"She's still..." Rick faded off, glancing back the way they came.

"We need to get her." Glenn argued, his face bruised up as he glared daggers towards Merle. "What happened to her?"

"Probably nothing." Merle mused with a laugh. Glenn made to move at him but Daryl stepped in the middle. "The Gov'nor ain't gonna do nothing to your precious Doctor Bo."

"Why not?" Maggie asked.

"Cuz, cowgirl...she's his daughter." Merle stated simply, receiving a round of stunned faces in response.

* * *

Ack, okay, this is long enough. Don't think that they're gonna give up on Bo just on that revelation. Things are just going to be...complicated. Although I'm thinking Bo may have to save herself.

And just for the record and all. I love Michonne, she's kick ass, and I'm sort of downplaying her in this story for the sake of Bo and her story but I will make sure Michonne gets decent time and some decent bits. I already have the stuff planned out that goes along with the (sad sad) latest episode. I just need to work out what happens between now and then.


	18. Daddy's Little Prisoner

**Daddy's Little Prisoner  
**

Before I commence on this chapter, just going to say that no, I am not going to follow...many of the things that happened in the finale, if really any of it. Some of it will be the same maybe but I'm not going to follow the show path there.

* * *

Bo pressed against the back of her head and counted the seconds until her vision started to get dark. She then withdrew her hand and took even breaths, pulling herself off the brink of unconsciousness. She wasn't even sure how long she had been in the cage for. The sounds of gunshots and yelling had echoed through the room and she wondered who was getting shot and who was doing the shooting.

Had it actually been Shane that she had seen talking to the Governor? Was he causing a fuss?

Had her guys actually realized that she and Glenn we missing?

God, she hoped Glenn was safe.

The door opened and her eyes darted to it, hope dying quickly when she watched the Governor enter, followed by a man she didn't recognize.

"Milton here is going to fix up your head." The Governor explained, opening the lock and pulling the cage door open. He had his gun out quick, pointed at Bo's head before she moved. "Play nice now."

"Go to hell." Bo ground out. She watched as the nervous man, Milton, moved into the cage. Her glare didn't quite deter him, just made him more cautious, and she had to admit it was admirable. She turned her eyes away from him as he gently prodded at her head, moving it forward to examine any damage at the back.

"Now is that so hard to do?" The Governor mused, grinning. "Behaving all nice. That's a good girl."

Okay, she could only behave so long.

She could handle the grin, she could handle the words, but the tone...that damn, mocking, 'I got you backed in a corner' tone, oh hell no! A growl came out and she launched herself away from Milton and out of the cage at the man who was partially responsible for her existence.

Which could very well have lent to him allowance to extinguish said existence if he so chose. The gun shot echoed out and her shoulder burned as she fell to the floor. The Governor clicked his tongue slowly as he crouched down, looking at the woman as if she were just a small child who had thrown a hissy fit.

"Why do you make me do these things, Issy?" The Governor asked softly. "You made me do that." He patted her head roughly over the spot that was dark from dried blood. She winced but kept her head down, hand on her shoulder to slow the bleeding. "Fix her up Milton. I want her looking nice." He rose from his crouch and moved to the other room. His hand rested on the doorknob that would take him completely out of the room and he turned, his one eye gazing down at the blonde woman he had fathered.

"They're gonna come." Bo muttered. She lifted her head up and glared at him. "They'll be here."

"They already were...twice." The Governor explained, making Bo pause. "Didn't even bother to try and find you. Got the boy and left, only came back again to cause more chaos." Her eyes were disbelieving as a dark frown crossed her face. "They left you here, Issy...left you for the wolves."

The door closed behind him, leaving a stunned and suddenly scared Bo to be tended to by a wary Milton.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

"We can't just leave her there." Daryl growled, pacing by the car.

"She's his daughter, Daryl." Rick reminded.

"What if Merle's lying?" Glenn asked, frowning. "I wouldn't put it past him to want to stir up trouble."

"She is his daughter." Andrea cut in, rocking a crying Amy, trying to get her child to calm down. "I saw a picture the Governor had."

"Doesn't mean he won't do something to her." Shane remarked, hands on his hips. "I watched Martinez literally drag her. If either of them had been pulling any harder, her arm would have popped."

"I'm getting her." Daryl decided finally. He slung his arrows across his back and picked up his crossbow.

"Don't be stupid, little brother." Merle spoke up finally. He had been leaning on the vehicle, thumb hooked into his pocket, bladed stump hanging at his side. "Some girl worth getting yourself killed?"

"Shut up." Daryl snapped at his brother.

"I'm just saying...she ain't ever told any of you about herself, has she?" Merle asked. The group all looked at each other, even Glenn looking put out by the truth.

"Maybe...maybe there's a reason." Maggie defended. "Like her dad being a psychopath."

"Or maybe everything ya do know about her is wrong." Merle reasoned. "Maybe her whole time out, she been looking for him."

"That picture was old." Andrea pointed out weakly. She hated herself for agreeing with Merle but he honestly hadn't been that bad in town, only in Atlanta. People could change, be different.

"Coulda just been the only one he was able to get when things went to hell." Merle suggested with a shrug. Daryl frowned, his eyes narrowing at all the looks of doubt creeping into everyone's faces.

"We need to get Andrea and her baby back to the prison, where it's safe." Rick declared.

"You lot do that." Daryl muttered, irritated beyond belief. "I'm getting Bo."

"Daryl..." Rick sighed and glanced around the group before he pulled Daryl to the side. "I want Bo round much as you do, we need her, but we also need to get back, get things ready. If this man is as psychotic as Shane's said then he's going to retaliate."

"You gonna let Merle in?" Daryl asked. Rick faltered and glanced over at the older Dixon who's eyes were roaming over Maggie. "Didn't think so."

"We can't attack a third time." Rick stated, jumping back to the original argument. "We need a plan."

"What if he's doing shit to her?" Daryl asked angrily. "We know Bo...we know if that guy..."

"What if he wasn't always like that?" Rick cut in. "She could be wanting to stay there. Thinking she could help him."

"She wouldn't wanna be away from us." Daryl argued, getting more annoyed. "We're her family, she's said it herself. Better than anything."

"She's smart." Rick remarked, glancing around the street. "We gotta trust she'll be safe until we can get her." Daryl sighed and looked down, feeling defeated. Rick sighed, not liking the way of things but knowing their options were slim as he headed back to the others.

"I'm not going back to the prison." Daryl called after him, making him halt. All eyes turned to the hunter as he turned his head back up to look at them. "Gotta stick with my brother and it's damn obvious he's not gonna be allowed."

"After what he's done?" Glenn asked rhetorically. He shot an angry look at Merle who at least had the decency not to smile. He just watched the younger man. "He shouldn't be around any of the girls."

"Afraid I'll show them what a real man can do?" Merle asked, causing his brother's eyes to roll.

"You know you're welcome." Rick stated, looking at Daryl. "We're family."

"So's he." Daryl pointed out. Rick just gave him a look and Daryl knew he had just contradicted what he had been arguing before. Merle was his blood and he had to stay with him, why would it be different for Bo and her father? Something was right in that case though, he just knew it.

"You know where we are." Rick declared finally, sighing. Daryl nodded and patted his shoulder before walking off into the trees. Merle pushed himself away from the car and went after the younger brother, a little confused but not showing it.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

Bo followed Milton out of the house, her eyes darting around but she made no moves to escape. The Governor stood nearby and, when she got closer, locked an arm painfully tight around her shoulders. People watched them from the streets and she could hear them muttering, hear them wondering who she was. Milton had cleaned her head and shoulder, patched her up. A gash on her head had been stitched up as well, the only damage that was actually visible to the people. The Governor's arm on her shoulder made it hurt and she held in the wince.

"Miracles can happen people!" The Governor called out. "In our darkest times, we can see that something good can come about. These attacks...they were devastating, they were traumatic, but we can rebuild from them. I have here next to me, proof that not all hope is lost. I have my daughter." The whispers halted for mere seconds before starting again as everyone looked at Bo. She didn't look at any of them, didn't smile, didn't react in any way. She kept tense and rigid, knowing it would lead to more questions. Maybe if these people questioned the mad man, there could be hope for them.

"Was she with them?" A woman asked, frowning.

"Sadly, the terrorists had my daughter among them." The Governor explained. "But she was not attacking us. She was shot by them! Left here! They abandoned her in favour of their own skin! She was nothing more than a distraction at the end of their carnage!"

Bo's eye twitched as she frowned, anger bubbling up. The audacity of him to say that her people had left her. They would never...

Merle, Shane and Andrea suddenly flashed in her head, bringing her anger to a halt.

They had all been left behind in some way. Never purposefully though, never knowingly. Merle had done it to himself and Shane and Andrea...there was too many walkers. Going back to see if they were there was just...

Bo dropped her head, unsure of how to justify that one now.

"There's daddy's little girl." The Governor whispered to her, applying a slight extra amount of pressure to her shoulder. Bo gritted her teeth, her tension rising. There was no way she was going to subject herself to this, not again. She was getting the hell out of Woodbury if it killed her.

Whether or not she returned to the prison was another thing.

* * *

So this is a short chapter, gonna have some different stuff happening to fill in the space between this part and where the Governor gives Rick an ultimatum.


	19. Tell a Story

**Tell a Story  
**

So there is a picture in my profile to go along with the last chapter. Haven't done any pictures in a while so felt like I should do something and that just sort of came to mind when I was thinking about it.

And OH MY GOD, what's this? In this chapter? Could it be...is it...YES...finally the back story on little miss Isabeau Walker! But seriously, read the other stuff as well, don't jump to that part lol.

* * *

Daryl leaned on a tree, eyes to the sky, trying not to listen to his brother as the other man took a piss further away. He shook his head, irritated by everything that happened in the last few hours. He was tired as well, having spent all of the previous night either planning or rescuing and arguing. He wanted nothing more than to just crash on the bed in the prison cell with Bo, knowing she was fine. He had to find her first in order to do that though.

"Hurry it up!" Daryl growled, kicking back at the tree just for something to do.

"You try and piss with one hand!" Merle shot back. "Unless you're gonna offer to hold it for me..." He ended in a laugh and Daryl rolled his eyes. He mused on his options. They had travelled back towards Woodbury but kept a distance, not even able to see it but knew it was there. The road was just a short way from them, that they could see, but they kept in the trees.

"How long did you know?" Daryl asked.

"Know what?" Merle questioned, walking back over to his brother and pulling up his zipper.

"That Bo was the Governor's daughter." Daryl replied, looking sideways at him.

"Few months I think." Merle answered with a sigh. "Saw the picture Blondie was talking about but didn't really consider it all that much. Wasn't until I heard about him keeping his little girl around even though she'd been bit that I started wondering. Looked at the picture again and tried to figure out why the one looked so familiar, then I remembered the Doc."

"And now she's there." Daryl muttered. He looked off in the direction of Woodbury and frowned.

"I never asked about anything but..." Merle trailed off for a moment, long enough for his brother to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "I don't think your precious little Bo wants to be round him anymore then she'd want to be surrounded by biters. Hell, I figure she'd rather the biters than him. I don't know what he was like before all this but when he found me after I cut my hand off, he was only slightly less twisted than he is now." Merle watched his brother carefully, eyes narrowing slightly, watching the slight fidget that had taken over Daryl as the younger man kept his eyes in the direction of the town. "Dear God, you did it, didn't you?"

"What?" Daryl asked, snapping back to his brother.

"You went and fell for her." Merle sighed, shaking his head. Daryl frowned slightly. "Did I never teach you anything?"

"Shut it." Daryl ground out, pushing away from the tree. He started walking and Merle kept right up with him.

"Tell me something...how's it feel if you picture her with rugrats?" The older Dixon asked. Daryl didn't pause but he did slow down. The thought had never occurred to him, Bo ever having kids, least of all with him. Now that he thought of it, it gave him a strange feeling in his stomach. Merle wasn't entirely surprised by the grin that made it's way only slightly visible on his brother's face and he wondered about what exactly the younger of the duo was thinking to get such a smile. "Yep, you're gone."

"Shut up." Daryl barked. To which Merle did nothing but laugh.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

"That's pretty much it." Rick concluded the tour, turning back to facing his two friends. They were free of Amy, Anna having taken the baby soon as she saw them all. Carl had just offered a nod of recognition towards Shane, a slight hint of a smile. It was sad to see that all these months had taken away the child and left a hardened young man. Shane had been intrigued by the young girl that Carl had turned his attention back to soon as his slight greeting had finished. There was one wild and crazy moment where he almost thought it was Sophia but only because of the blonde hair. The moment passed quickly after he looked again.

"Sounds like it was an intense thing." Andrea commented. "I'm sorry about T-Dog."

"He kept Bo safe." Rick muttered, looking over in the direction that was Bo and Daryl's cell. It was going to be empty for a while, he didn't know how long. But he wasn't going to let Bo just stay in Woodbury if it wasn't something she wanted.

Then there was getting Daryl back. Would he come back if Merle wasn't welcome? They needed Daryl, that was for sure, but could they deal with Merle? Rick didn't exactly know the guy all that well, only having spent a few hours with him before leaving on him on a roof in Atlanta last year. Lori had said he was a disgusting man, always leering, but while he was awful, he did tend to listen to Daryl and he had gone with Glenn and Andrea into town on that run that had ended up picking up Rick and Anna.

As if on cue, the sound of a fussing baby reached them and the trio looked over at Anna coming their way, rocking Amy. Rick watched her, grinning slightly. Something about the sight of her with a child...

"Think someone may be hungry." Anna remarked, passing the young infant to her mother.

"Seems about the right time." Andrea laughed slightly. "Seems to be a very schedule oriented child."

"Which works out well these days." Shane pointed out. Andrea nodded in agreement. Rick directed them to an empty cell that they could use and then watched his friends go to take care of the child.

"Who'd have thought it with them, huh?" Anna asked, grinning. She looked at Rick then sighed. "Can't believe Daryl would just leave though."

"He wants to stay with Merle and wants to get Bo back fast." Rick explained. Anna nodded with a slight frown, clearly uncomfortable with the fact that they had broken into the town twice and both times missed the med student. "We're gonna get her back."

"Then what? How do we get Daryl back?" Anna asked. Rick frowned and tapped his fingers on his thigh, contemplating. "I don't know Merle but Glenn, Shane, Andrea and Bo do, and course Daryl does. Shane and Andrea know him from the town now, maybe he's different from what we saw back in Atlanta. He could be useful."

"He could also still be the same." Rick pointed out.

"Gotta give him the chance though." Anna stated. Rick looked at her carefully then grinned. He put a hand on her hip and dragged her over then kissed her softly. She grinned against his lips and draped her arms over his shoulders. She kissed his cheek when they separated and looked at him carefully. "Her name's Lucy."

"Who?" Rick asked, caught by surprise.

"The girl. She's talking to Carl but no one else." Anna explained. Rick nodded slowly, glad that his son was helping someone. "He said that she told him her name was Lucy. He's teaching her about aiming a gun, with the safety off of course." She glanced around, eyeing a cell on the upper level. "What are we going to do about Michonne?"

"Hershel says she may have a concussion and she got shot before she even got to us." Rick recited, looking up at the cell. "She was running on adrenaline the last while. Shane and Andrea vouch for her though, say she's a good woman, strong and smart. If she can pull her own weight around here, don't see why she can't stay."

"You're a good guy." Anna muttered softly, smiling. Rick looked at her. "Even if you don't always believe it, and even if you have to get a little hard on everyone, you're still a good guy. You do the things that other people just can't because someone always has to and you'd rather they not." He just stared at her for several long moments before he put his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. Her warm hands moved softly up and down his back and he sighed.

"You're incredible." Rick whispered, kissing her head.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD****_

Milton watched Bo.

Bo watched Milton.

The rest of the place was silent, empty, it was just them. A short while ago the Governor and a few others had gone off for what he said was a supply run but she knew damn well that they were going to the prison. There was no way they weren't going on the attack after what happened and then leaving with the vehicles they had. This was technically the best time for her to pull off an escape, even with the back of her head still sore and her shoulder burning. She wasn't getting another shot, that much she knew. She'd be damned if she was going to play the good little girl just to save her own ass. She was getting out or going down fighting.

"You knew Penny." Bo stated finally, making Milton jump with the sound.

"I met...her and him...just before she was..." Milton faded off with a sigh. "I'm sorry."

"Why?" Bo asked, genuinely curious. Milton looked surprised. "I'm willing to admit that in the few short years that I actually knew her, I hated her. She was born and my mom got sick, she couldn't take care of herself, let another another child and Phillip was useless. He hated his life, hated his job. He spent so much time at the bar that it was amazing that he managed to keep having money for groceries." She stood up and paced around the room then picked up the picture of her family and looked over the faces. "I had to take care of her and she clearly hated me. I was the only person she fussed with, the only person who got screamed at. But i had to take care of her, had to feed her, change her. She stayed in my room. When I was at school and Phillip was at work, mom's nurse had to take care of her, which wasn't part of the deal for her so I had to miss a lot of school to be around for the stupid kid."

"She was just a baby." Milton muttered.

"I was thirteen." Bo pointed out. "Never had any siblings before. When I was five and mom was thinking about it, she miscarried. She never wanted to try again. When she got pregnant with Penny, we all thought there would be a miscarriage there as well." She glared at the picture, gripping the frame. "This picture was taken to try and prove that we were a family. This one here, this was the third attempt, after Phillip had put his hand on Penny's back and I had moved away from her. I was supposed to hold her but she wouldn't stay still, she wouldn't shut the fuck up."

"When did you leave?" Milton asked.

"Five months later." Bo replied, putting the picture face down on the desk. "I had met this man, Daniel Walker. Well...he was nineteen so..." She shrugged and grinned. "Phillip hated him, I was sixteen, too young and all. Mom loved him though. Daniel saw how things were, saw the way I hated being there. I stayed at his place as often as I could. I met him just before the picture was taken and by the four month mark, he told me he got a job in a different city and wanted me to move with him. Mom agreed with him, told us that the family was killing her, killing me, and she wouldn't let me go through it anymore." Bo looked at Milton, watched him watching her with a sympathetic look. "Phillip never knew Daniel's last name. In the month between deciding all this and leaving, mom and Daniel had gone over paperwork, giving me allowance to live with him, allowing me to change my name, take his surname so Phillip could never find me...not that he tried apparently."

They were silent after that, everything else pretty much seemed to settle itself. Milton knew she had to have finished high school and then gone into med school considering how often they were told about her being a med student and the closest thing to a doctor that group had. He wondered about what happened to Daniel, if he had lived to these dark days, if Bo thought he was still out there somewhere, or maybe if they had broken up after a few years and she didn't know or care. Obviously something had happened at some point though between the two, Milton doubted that Bo would have just started sleeping with Merle's brother if she had been with someone else, perhaps even looking for them. He watched her as she leaned next to the window, gazing out at the wall.

"Go. Leave." Milton spoke firmly. Bo looked at him quickly. "You're not going to get another chance."

"You're not going to stop me?" Bo asked.

"Do I look like I could even if I wanted to?" Milton countered. Bo smiled slightly and shrugged. He retrieved her gun from the cabinet and gave her extra ammo. Bo was grateful she had only brought her gun on the failed supply run and not the crossbow. She doubted she would have gotten that back, some part of her figuring the Governor would have taken it with him on his attack.

"I will have to hit you, just to make it look like there was at least some sort of struggle so the dumbass doesn't think that you just let me go." Bo pointed out. Milton frowned then sighed. He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the impact. Bo sighed then punched him, flinching when he fell back into the table and hit the floor. "Sorry."

"No...no...it's good effect." Milton muttered, rubbing his face and his back. "Go now, before you can't go."

She didn't need telling twice. Bo took off, running from the room and the building. She slowed slightly, watching the guard on the wall. He was facing outward so she was able to get to the wall without him seeing. She climbed up slowly, trying to be quiet, but trust him to turn part way up.

"Hey!" His yell was loud and Bo bolted up the rest of the stairs and dove off the wall. She crashed down on the ground and rolled, her shoulder pain flaring up on contact and she bit down on her lip to combat it as she scrambled to her feet. The guard was yelling down at her but she ignored him and ran for the trees. A shot fired out and the sound of splintering wood actually caused her to flinch when she realized it was from the tree next to her.

"Shit." Bo muttered, running onward. She kept going until she couldn't hear the yelling anymore, couldn't hear anything but her own heavy breathing. It was only then that she allowed herself to stop and catch her breath. "This...is payback...for all the...years smoking, isn't it?" Her eyes lifted to the sky as she took deep breaths. "On top...of the walkers...sadistic bastard, you are."

Voices caused her to tense up and hold her breath. She listened carefully, trying to decipher the direction they were from. They sounded like they were moving away from her. They sounded familiar. She blinked several times then took off after the voices, inwardly cheering when they got louder. She didn't bother being too quiet as she stomped over dead leaves and snapped twigs. The voices stopped and she slowed down.

"I swear on the high holy lord, Dixon, you come out aiming that crossbow at me and I will be a very unhappy woman." Bo announced, hands on her hips. Sure enough, Daryl moved out from behind a tree, crossbow aimed down now. He stared at her for a moment but she only allowed him that long. She barely spared Merle a second glance as she strode over to the younger brother and kissed him as if she hadn't seen him in months. Behind them, Merle snickered as Daryl dropped the crossbow and gripped onto Bo's hips. The blonde had enough sense in her head to lift her hand up and stick out her middle finger, which only made the older man laugh more.

"You okay?" Daryl muttered quietly, leaning back enough to take in any damage. His hand drifted across the stitches on the woman's forehead and then pulled her sleeve out of the way to look at the bandaging on her shoulder.

"We can worry about me later, the Governor's gone after the prison." Bo declared firmly. "We need to get there and help."

* * *

So what do you guys think? Don't worry, Bo's gonna tell Daryl everything as well but not for a while. Gonna be a lot of stuff happening, life stories among the group will have to wait. Also I think, just to save some time, I'm gonna skip over a few things. The raid on the prison most likely, just Bo with Daryl and Merle isn't going to make much difference. We all know how everyone is going to act with her, be a little cautious and wary but overall still fairly normal, kinda like in the show with Andrea. Definitely going to skip the hometown thing because I have no intention of having Bo or Anna go along for that so it would be pretty much just like the show. Might throw in some stuff with Carl and Lucy but my thoughts with her won't really expand until after the prison.


	20. He's Got a Plan

**He's got a Plan  
**

I'm honestly not really skipping a whole lot it seems lol. Just in this, I've decided that the Governor will have wanted to have a "talk" with Rick and has Milton deliver the location rather than having it all be Andrea because, let's face it, she's not there and there's no one else. I figure the Governor will have realized that Milton helped Bo but he's playing it sneaky.

And what's going on with the people that were reviewing? I miss seeing feedback, it makes me worry that I may be doing, or have done, something wrong when people stop reviewing. Oh dear, anxiety.

* * *

Hershel glanced sideways at Rick, watching as the man stayed silent in the truck. Ahead of them, Daryl rode his motorcycle. Nothing had been said since Rick and the Governor had stepped out of the barn and silently gone to their own vehicles. Anxiety rose at the prospect of something unpleasant happening or being decided.

Carl let them into the prison and all eyes moved to Rick as the leader surveyed the group. Shane knew the look on his friend's face and frowned, something wasn't right.

"We're going to war." Rick announced simply. All the faces around him looked scared by resigned. He locked eyes with Shane and headed away from the group, his old partner following behind him.

"So what happened?" Shane asked quietly.

"He wants Bo." Rick muttered, glancing back at the others, watching the aforementioned woman nudge Daryl playfully and say something that made him grin and shake his head. "Two days...if she gets brought to him...he won't attack."

"And if he's lying?" Shane questioned.

"We prepare for a war." Rick stated simply. "There's a reason I didn't tell them the other option."

"You thinking about it?" Shane asked. Rick frowned and didn't answer.

Was he thinking about it? Truthfully, it seemed too easy to work but still...no, he couldn't even consider it. Bo was part of the group, she was family. Whatever the Governor had in mind for his daughter, it likely wasn't going to be pleasant if the wounds Bo had returned with were anything to already judge by. Course, she had been the one to stop Rick from shooting Milton when the scientist had showed up, leashed walker on hand. She had been the one to convince them to give up a car so he could get back safer after delivering the message. There were too many things going on to make a safe decision.

How could they even be certain that the Governor was going to stay by his word and leave them alone? Nothing was ever certain anymore, people were never what they used to be.

Although in some cases, they never change.

Merle watched the two from close by, having gone unnoticed by either former officer. He frowned slightly and looked over at the group, watching his brother and the med student discuss possible attack plans. He frowned slightly, watching and considering.

Something needed to happen, he knew that. He also knew that these people wouldn't be able to do what needed doing. He frowned and walked off, not wanting to really think too much into anything. This wasn't his group, these weren't his people, he didn't need to give a damn about them.

"How are you feeling?" Anna's voice suddenly caught him and he turned to look at her with a frown. "Seem a little flustered there, Merle."

"Ain't flustered." Merle ground out.

"If you say so." Anna shrugged, putting her hands on her hips. "You really enjoy being a loner don't you?"

"Suits me just fine princess." Merle declared, crossing his arms. The cool metal reminding him yet again of his lack of a right hand. "Ain't got no reason to make friends with a bunch of tight knit folks."

"Would make things easier on Daryl." Anna pointed out, causing the man to pause. "There's a lot of shit going on and...we need everything we can get. So if you're going to be here then be with us. Don't be skulking off on your own and watching as people gun each other down."

Merle considered her for a moment, taking in the fear that was cleverly veiled behind determination. She didn't want to kill people, didn't want this mess to happen. He scoffed and gave a single nod before turning away from her and continuing on his way, thoughts forming in his head.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

It was surprisingly easy to get Bo away from the others two days later. She was already separated from them when he approached her and got her to follow him. She didn't even seem sceptical and for some reason, that twisted something in his gut unpleasantly. Was she trusting him? What for? Lord knew she had absolutely no reason to even want to be around him, let alone trust him.

Things had to happen though. Having watched these people over the last two days, he knew they weren't ready for another attack, weren't capable of defending themselves against what he knew the Governor had. His actions weren't going to earn him any real favours with the group, in fact it would likely damn him further, but hell, someone had to do it and he was already the parasite to them.

"You know, when you pulled me aside, I figured it had something to do with some twisted big brother thing." Bo remarked, following Merle through a corridor of the prison. "So what's this really about?"

"Told you girl, had to clear out some geeks." Merle shot back.

"Uh huh, you know you have the same tick that your brother has when you're lying." Bo pointed out, looking at the back of the man's head as he paused. "It's subtle but I've noticed."

"Overheard the coppers talking." Merle stated, turning to look at her.

"About that meeting." Bo guessed softly, frowning. Merle grinned. "What do you know?"

"Big daddy wants his kid back." Merle declared. Bo narrowed her eyes then sighed. She should have seen that one coming. Even when Milton was there at the prison, the way he avoided looking at her, even when he spoke to her, should have told her something was up. There was a price to be paid for every action and her tab was coming up.

"So there was an ultimatum." Bo muttered. "Figures. Seemed like too much fuss to just call Rick out to tell him there's no hope and they're going to attack." She crossed her arms and looked at him. "So when do we go?"

"Right about now." Merle replied, not overly surprised by her ease. He thought back to how Daryl had reacted when they didn't get Bo the second time through Woodbury and that twist in his gut came back. Shaking his head, Merle led the blonde woman through the corridors and out of the prison. He frowned as she even allowed him to tie her hands up. He did a poor job of it, almost actually wanting her to make a break for it.

Damn noble self sacrificing bitch.

Well fine, if she was game for this then it wasn't his problem. He was just the delivery boy. She seemed more than willing to give up herself to save the rest of the prison.

His gut was saying differently though.

"Planning on walking the whole way?" Bo asked, trailing along behind the older Dixon brother. Merle glared at her over his shoulder as he looked around, trying to locate a car they could use. He found several in a parking lot and looped her restraints around a pole. Bo sighed and just watched him as he got to work on the car. "You know Daryl's gonna be pissed, right?"

"He'll get over it." Merle argued. Honestly, he didn't actually think about how his brother would react to all this and the sudden thought process didn't sit right. Bo flinched when the car alarm went off and she frowned, glancing around for in the impending herd. Sure enough it was barely a minute later before several walkers came stumbling their way.

"Damn it...MERLE!" Bo yelled, trying to be heard over the alarm. He made no sign of hearing and she tried to wiggle her hands around enough to either get free or get untied from the pole. To her own surprise, her hands came free relatively easily but she was tackled down by a walker, agitating her still sore head.. She pushed up at it's chin, groaning when it pushed down on her shoulder. "Son...of a fucking...bitch!" Merle's gun rang out and the walker slumped off of Bo.

"Get your ass up, woman!" Merle barked, shooting down another walker. Bo frowned and got up. She made her way over to him and then yelped when he shoved her into the car. She scurried across the seat before he got in, not wanting him to sit on her, then watched as he plowed through the mass trying to surround them.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

They were silent in the car, Bo rubbing at her wrists and looking out the window. Merle glanced at her several times, watching and waiting. His gut twisted again and he felt like punching it, telling it to stop. He wanted her to say something, wanted her to do something. Was that too much to ask?

"Are you sure about this?" Bo asked finally. She lifted her eyes and looked at the man driving, glancing down at where his bladed arm rested between them. "You don't have to do this, you know. He's going to attack either way. He wants everyone dead."

"You saying you want me to turn back now?" Merle mused, laughing slightly.

"I'm saying...you helped save people." Bo remarked. "You can be with us, you don't have to alienate yourself all the time."

"You and the Sheriff's girl been talking or something?" Merle asked, frowning. Bo just raised an eyebrow at him and remained silent. He glanced at her and sighed, finding her watching him. "Goddamnit, woman!" He slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to a halt. "Get out."

"What?" Bo was honestly surprised by that.

"I said get out, what, you go deaf now?" Merle leaned over her and forced the door open. "Get! Go back to the others."

"You're...not coming." Bo spoke slowly, a frown crossing her face.

"Got something I gotta do now." Merle decided, looking out the front window. "Now go."

"Merle..." Bo started.

"You die...and Daryl goes to a dark place he ain't ever coming out of." Merle cut her off, looking at her. Bo blinked, surprised by the statement. "Don't matter who's around, they ain't helping him out of there. I die...least he's got you to help him."

"He's not..." Bo tried to start again.

"He loves ya, Doc." Merle cut in again, staring her right in the eye. Bo was silenced again, eyes wide. "He's a good man, better than me, better than I could have ever made him. Lot of that, I figure, is cuz of you. Man needs you, Doc, so you gotta live. Now get the fuck out!"

"You're coming back with me." Bo insisted. Merle just growled and reached in the back seat, tossing out Bo's crossbow, gun and bag with her knife and ammo, then gave her an almighty shove. Bo yelped and her upper body tumbled out of the car. Her hands hit the pavement and she looked back at the older Dixon.

"Sorry Doc but things need doing and you gotta keep your nose clean." Merle remarked as he slowly rolled the car forward. Bo twisted, dropping her legs out of the car. She crawled out of the way and got up, making a move to get back to the car but by that point Merle had sped up and was driving away, door flapping in the air.

"MERLE!" Bo screamed. She stared after the car then looked around, hands on her hips. "Fucking ass!" She frowned then picked up her gun and crossbow. Her gun went at her waist and her crossbow went over her shoulder and her bag across her back. She contemplated going after Merle, but he was in a car and she wouldn't catch him on time. Shaking her head, she turned and went back up the road, hoping the walkers were gone so that she could hot wire another car. She ranted and cursed and screamed as she walked, finding a rock and kicking it along until she lost it.

When a foolish walker stumbled out of the trees towards her, she dug her knife out of her bag, ready to take it down because now she was just pissed. She was all set to stab at it's head when an arrow shot through the back of it, dropping the dead body.

"What the fuck happened?" Daryl's irritated voice only calmed her slightly and she looked at him carefully before turning and going back up the road, the direction she had originally been going with Merle. "HEY! BO!"

"COME ON!" Bo called back. Daryl jogged to catch up to her and frowned. "Your brother's being a fucking noble asshole."

"Shit." Daryl muttered. "Why'd he have to go and pick now to get a fucking conscious?" Bo sighed and shook her head, deciding to stay quiet. They hurried along the road, Daryl apparently knowing where to go now. She glanced at him, wondering about the things Merle had said. She had no idea what to do with that kind of information or even if it could be true. Merle could have just been trying to kick up some shit.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

Bo wasn't sure what to expect but it definitely wasn't what they found.

Walkers all over the place, eating the bodies of the dead. Her stomach churned, actually recognizing a few of the walkers as people from the town. She gripped onto her knife, waiting for a reaction but they were all too busy eating. Bo looked around, keeping behind Daryl. Aside from the munching, there was no noise. Neither of them spoke, neither of them needed to.

And then Bo walked into Daryl's back and stumbled slightly, blinking and trying to figure out why he had suddenly stopped. She leaned to the side to look at him and was surprised to see he actually looked sad, heartbroken. Her eyes drifted slowly to what was ahead of him, afraid to see what it was, and then she was stuck staring at Merle. He wasn't as she had last seen him though, not even an hour before. He looked at them, dead eyes, blood running over his chin. He staggered to his feet, the bloodied mess on his shirt making it clear how he had died. His blade still attached to his arm and his other hand missing fingers.

"Oh God." Bo whispered. Merle stepped over the body he had been feasting on and made his way to the live food. Daryl frowned and shoved him backwards. Bo wasn't sure what to do as she tried to ignore the cries that issued forth from the hunter's mouth. She just watched the brothers, struggling, tears building in her eyes. She flinched when Daryl finally rammed his knife up through Merle's jaw. Her hands covered her mouth as she watched him stab his brother repeatedly.

Daryl fell back off the unmoving body, eyes narrowed and swimming with tears. His head was screaming at his brother, wishing...demanding a reason as to why he'd suddenly pull such a stunt. Why he'd give up trying to hand over Bo and get himself killed instead. A shadow dropped over him and fingers brushed at his head. His hand snapped up quickly, grasping onto Bo's wrist and pulling her down. She dropped to her knees willingly then wound her arms around him. For once he didn't resist, his head falling into her chest as he tried to piece together the fucked up situation.

"I'm sorry." Bo whispered, one hand holding onto his shoulder, the other on his head. "God, Daryl, I'm so sorry. He shouldn't have...I mean...why would he..."

"Don't." Daryl muttered. Bo paused then nodded, staying silent. She looked around, thankful that the rest of the walkers in the area were obviously too distracted. Add on top that Daryl was now covered in blood from Merle which had effectively been transferred over to Bo and chances were, they just smelled bad enough to be ignored.

So they sat there in the blood stained grass silently. Daryl fingers curled in Bo's shoulder and hers just ever so slightly flexing in his hair, needing something to do. This was going to be a moment that she damn well would not say anything about to any of the others. All other times in his life that had been hard, he had yelled, gotten angry, not now. She didn't know what to do, if she should say something about the fact that it was getting darker. Her eyes shifted around and she found the car that Merle had stolen crashed into a silo but it didn't look too bad. If there was still gas, they could take it back to the prison.

But she had to make Daryl move first.

He had been quiet for a while, the crying he had done fading off into nothing. She knew her shirt was going to have a wet spot and she wondered about how she could explain that if it didn't dry up in time to get back. She untangled herself from the hunter long enough to fire an arrow into a walker that had long since finished off one body and had attempted to make a move for Merle's. The shot seemed to the trick and Daryl moved himself away from her to look around at the surroundings.

"We should go." The hunter muttered. Bo just nodded her agreement, watching him carefully as he got to his feet. He held out his hand and she gratefully took it, rising up off her sore knees. "This whole thing..."

"I know." Bo whispered softly. She leaned over and kisses his cheek softly. When she was moving back, she was caught off guard by him grabbing her head and kissing her. She succumbed to whatever he needed and then leaned her forehead against his. "Did you wanna...do something...with him?"

"Don't got the time." Daryl replied. He glanced just once at what was left of his brother and then as a side thought, reached out and took the blade from his arm. They both looked at his stump for a minute, contemplating different things about the man, before Daryl put an arm around Bo's shoulders and lead her over to the car to see if it was salvageable.

* * *

So how about that? Merle's wise words of wisdom, huh? I was debating on keeping him but there's already a lot going on in my head and rustling into that asshole redneck part of my brain to access stuff for him might not have worked. He was a little more insightful here than I think he was in the show, especially with telling Bo that Daryl loves her. Not something that's gonna be brought up anytime soon but maybe someday it might, who knows.


	21. Failure to Attack

**Failure to Attack  
**

Well here's where this season 3 ends. But fear not, I have some thoughts to continue on, going canon with some remarks towards the stuff that happens in the books and, when it comes back, season 4. Plus there may be some interesting appearances.

* * *

He stumbled to the gates, continually just hoping against hope that the walkers would continue to ignore him. He knew he was in a sorry state but he had to warn them. Had to let them know. He was still amazed that he had gotten even this far. He could feel himself shutting down but he pushed onward, stumbling through the busted front gate and working his way across the field. He tripped on a bit of uneven ground and fell to the dirt, his glasses flying off. He slowly lifted up his head and blinked. There were blurred figures moving beyond the fence and he thought that maybe he could reach them by crawling.

His body seemed to want to refuse the simplest of commands as it took far too much effort to just lift one arm and move it forward. He slowly crawled up the path, leaving a bloody trail behind him. Someone yelled something, had he been seen? He hoped so. The jingling of metal reached his ears and then he saw the blurry forms of several people coming through the last gate, one going to him while the others moved out to form a barrier between him and the walkers.

"Jesus Christ, Milton?" Andrea's voice echoed in his head and he laughed slightly. Two other forms came to him and he was rolled gently to his back. Blinking in the sunlight, he was finally able to focus somewhat. Hovering over him was Andrea, Shane and Bo, the three he had actually helped.

Seemed appropriate.

"Oh God." Bo's concern was touching. He watched her shuffling around, barely felt the pressure she applied to his worst wound. God, he was that far gone wasn't he? He couldn't even feel...it amazed him that he got to the prison. "We have to get him in."

"He did this." Shane muttered bitterly. Milton felt, just barely, the hands moving to lift him. Faster than he thought possible, his own grasped onto Bo's wrist and everyone halted.

"Can't...can't fix...me." Milton gasped out.

"I think his ribs are broken." Andrea muttered.

"How the hell did he make it here like this?" Shane spoke quietly in wonder.

"Lis...lis...listen." Milton choked and winced, tightening his hand on Bo's wrist. She flinched slightly, maybe more from surprise at the action rather than actual pain. "He...he...is...coming. Taking...the p-people. Made an...an army."

"Do we move him?" Shane asked, looking at Bo. The hopeless expression on her face was answer enough.

"Don't...let...me...please." Milton gasped, struggling with his words and his breath. He turned out his, coughing slightly, and wasn't at all surprised when he felt wetness by his mouth. His fall onto the path might have sent one of the broken ribs through his lung for all he knew. Somewhere nearby, he could hear the crying of a baby and managed a smile, just a slight one. "Amy...she...she got...the...best chance...of...us all."

"I'm so sorry." Bo whispered.

"Get...get ready." Milton instructed. He looked at each face above him, watching each of them nod. He sighed, his eyes drifting shut. His last breath escaping without a sound, his final thought a reassuring one.

He had made it.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

"I want you to go with the kids." Daryl's sudden confession made Bo pause as she was packing things. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow, wanting him to elaborate. "Carl, Lucy, Amy, Beth and Hershel...go with them."

"Why?" Bo asked.

"They show up here...he's gonna go for you." Daryl pointed out. Bo frowned and crossed her arms.

"Kinda hard for me to go play guard with the kids when I actually have a role." She reminded. Daryl sighed and rubbed his head. "It's going to be fine Daryl." She walked over to him and took his hands then grinned. "Besides, it's no fun if just one of us ends up on an adrenaline kick."

Her joke had meant to inspire that slight smile of his but it didn't. He looked at her hands then up at her. She frowned again, her mind thinking back to the things Merle had said. Daryl shook his head and pulled her into the watch tower. From there he wasted no time in pushing her against the wall and stifling any words she could have said with his mouth. Not that she was really considering speaking much at this point. Instead, she just moaned against his lips, her arms automatically lifting to circle around his neck. She made sure the kiss speak words she just couldn't bring herself to say out loud and when they parted, his eyes stayed on his hands as they drifted mindlessly up and down over her hips.

"You get caught or killed..." Daryl muttered.

"I promise to keep extra safe." Bo cut in, wanting him to stop being like this. Sure, it was nice to an extent but they didn't need soft, worrying Daryl. They needed hard ass, fuck-with-me-get-an-arrow-in-the-ass Daryl. She took a hold of his chin and made him look at her. "Do I have to withhold sex or start slapping you to get you pissed off?"

"You wouldn't dare." Daryl retorted, finally grinning. "You like the sex more than I do."

"How about just as much as you do." Bo retaliated. She lifted a leg and looped it around his waist, being a tease and rubbing against him. "Rick doesn't want us to kill the people but we are letting loose a lot of walkers. One with the least take downs is getting tied up later."

"That'll be you." Daryl growled.

"You wish, baby." Bo challenged, smiling. She kissed him again then slapped his cheek just for an extra measure. He gave her a look and she just smiled innocently before slipping away, proud with herself for having managed to get the Daryl they needed back into play.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

The people followed the Governor through the prison, guns drawn and ready. There was just no signs of any people. It didn't feel right, it didn't seem safe. Several of them didn't even think it was right to waste time trying to do this. Why not just let them have the prison? Would they really attack the town again just because they were bored? This was were the Governor's daughter had gone, wasn't it? Why would she run away? Why would Shane and Andrea, fresh with a baby, leave the town to possibly join with these people as well?

The Governor walked into a cell and looked around. The only thing there was a bible with a highlighted passage. He didn't seem all too amused with it as he threw the holy book away.

So they travelled further, going deeper into the prison. There was no sound but their own breathing and light foot steps.

And then suddenly...humming.

Everyone paused and looked around, not finding where it was coming from. The Governor narrowed his eye, teeth gritting in irritation. The humming got louder and they all turned and faced the way they came, flashlights shining back down the corridor.

"Bye baby bunting, daddy's gone a hunting." Standing at the end of the corridor, from what they could see from the distance, was Bo, hands held behind her back and eyes nowhere but on her father. A slight smirk on her face as she watched the anger cloud over his face. "Gone to fetch a rabbit skin, to wrap his baby bunting in." Someone fired towards the blonde woman.

"NO!" The Governor yelled. Bo was already gone, running off as smoke bombs flew down the corridor at the group. Loud alarms suddenly rang out and the people turned around, seeing dozens of walkers suddenly flooding towards them.

No matter what orders they could have received, none of them wanted to be there anymore. They all took off running, following the banging up ahead that they assumed was coming from Bo herself as she seemed to lead them out of the prison. It wasn't exactly the most ideal idea, following someone from the group they had come to kill out into an open area, but it seemed better than staying inside where they were.

Shots fired out when they swarmed outside but none of them really paid any attention to the fact that they weren't getting hit, that the shots weren't directed at them, just fired off to scare them. Soon as the walkers flooded out though, the shots were aimed to eliminate.

The Woodbury people clambered to their vehicles, climbing in or on to escape the mayhem. The Governor, following the mob mentality, jumped into the back of the truck and turned to look back at the semi wrecked prison. There was no living people around even though the shots kept getting fired, albeit slower now as the walkers thinned out. The trucks sped off, away from the madness, away from the prison. The further away from the prison they got, the more angry the Governor ended up being and cause his truck to suddenly turn off road and stop. The other stopped and he looked at everyone.

"This isn't over!" The Governor ordered. "We need to go back!"

"That was insane!" One of the people yelled and then the arguments started.

"They killed my son..."

"They set walkers on us..."

"We were going to do that to them..."

"That was a disaster!"

"We can't risk it, let's just leave it!"

"Why was your daughter there?"

The last question brought a halt to every argument and all eyes turned to the Governor. He narrowed his eye, looking at everyone around him.

"You said those people shot her...left her for dead in Woodbury." One of the men stepped forward, clearly more curious then afraid. "But she was there. She helped them. I mean...should we really be afraid of these people? Were you lying about what happened to her?"

Martinez looked at the Governor, watching as the man tensed up. He knew the leader well enough, knew what the outcome of this would be. Just as he was wondering about it, the Governor lifted his gun and shot the man asking questions. Screams echoed throughout the street as the Governor shot down the people as they tried to run, none of them knew what to do or what had happened but their own mental anguish was ended once bullets entered their bodies. Martinez couldn't help flinching and staring with wide eyes at the carnage being caused to the people who just wanted to protect their city.

"ANYONE ELSE GOT ANY QUESTIONS?" The Governor asked, turning to the men behind him, the ones that knew the things he did. His gun was still up and Martinez and the other men shook their heads, worried on the man's sanity now. The Governor looked at them then grinned. "Good."

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

"God, this place is a mess now." Anna muttered, hands on her hips as she observed the structural damage to their home and watched the fire blazing in the watch tower.

"Nothing we can't fix...if we need to." Rick remarked, stepping up to her side. He put his arm over her shoulders and looked at her. "That was a good idea." Anna glanced up at him and grinned before she looked around at the others. Maggie and Glen were celebrating happily with Beth and Hershel, the girls doing little dances over the victory. Shane and Andrea were sitting on a bench with Michonne standing next to them, Amy in Michonne's arms as they talked quietly between themselves, smiles on their faces. Carl and Lucy were picking up pieces of debris and tossing them into a pile, chatting quietly about God only knew what.

The only people not present were Daryl and Bo but Anna figured they were an obvious find if anyone really felt like going to look for them.

"So now what?" Anna asked, loud enough that everyone else could hear as well. All eyes lifted to the couple. "Do we stay and try to rebuild this place?"

"After all the work we put in to keep it as ours?" Glen remarked. Anna smiled. "They did leave."

"But they could...come back." Andrea pointed out but even she didn't seem all that convinced. The Governor was unstable, no doubt, but after what happened...the people his group had lost to the walkers who were just faster than they were...surely he couldn't think that he would have a chance to get in again.

"Then we'll make sure we're ready for them." Rick stated. "If that's what everyone thinks is best."

"We can get building materials from the town me and Bo had gone to before.." Glen suggested, fading off. Maggie put her arms round him and kisses his cheek before leaning her head on his shoulder. He put an arm around her, holding her close. He took her left hand and kissed her knuckles, looking momentarily at the ring he had given her earlier.

"This is our place...we just need to...fortify it more." Anna declared, smiling slightly. "Totally doable."

"Yeah!" Beth agreed excitedly. "We were working on the barn before that herd hit the farm last year, this shouldn't be too hard."

"What do you think?" Rick asked, looking at Shane. The deputy paused, considering the suggestion. He looked around at everything, taking in the damage they would need to repair. Then he smiled and nodded.

With everyone in agreement, there was nothing to do but relax for a while before the work would begin and celebrate the fact that they had won this battle.

No one noticed that Daryl's bike was missing.

* * *

So I was going to write more about what Daryl and Bo were up to but then I decided not to, save it for the next chapter. It'll be fun that one, I can guarantee that.

I have some things in mind, sort of, for the people in Woodbury. Kind of anyway, it's a work in progress thing more like. I'm not moving them to the prison though.


	22. The Vows

**The Vows**

What's this title? Oh, well isn't that interesting. Yes indeed, wonder what all it refers to. Could it be interesting? Could it be fun? We shall see!

* * *

Bo kicked over a body and raised an eyebrow before looking over at Daryl as he rammed his knife through the head of another body. She knew the people, recognized them from Woodbury again. She took a deep breath then let it out with a slight growl. Her crossbow went over her shoulder as she walked over to the hunter and carefully ran her hand up his back to draw his attention silently. He looked at her, his expression dark and angry. Her eyes shifted around their surroundings and he gave a slight nod before they went off on foot, leaving the motorcycle behind with the trucks.

Wherever he had gone, he had gone by foot, and so would they.

Daryl didn't say anything, didn't have to, and neither did Bo. They walked quietly, no weapons drawn. The setting sun caused long shadows from the trees and plenty of dark spaces to hide. The duo looked around carefully, taking in the surroundings with quiet observation. His eyes fell over broken twigs and pierced wood, the signs of a struggle involving gun shots.

They found blood.

Spots here and there, littering the trees and grass. The spots got bigger, turned into puddles. Smears from red coated hands ran across tree bark. Splashes covered the ground and marks faded into the wood. Something injured clearly stumbled through here. Or, more likely, someone.

They found a gun.

And then a second one.

A little further away, they found fingers.

They heard the soft mumbling before they found the final scene.

Several bodies, fresh and decomposing alike, littered the ground. Bo looked over Martinez, crumbled on the grass, his stomach ripped completely through, a second body lying motionless almost on top of him, and felt nothing for the man. Her eyes drifted up, coursing over the other bodies, then stopping at the person kneeling in the middle of the massacre, covered in blood, laughing softly as he spoke under his breath to himself. Daryl nudged something on the ground and Bo glanced over, eyes following the eye patch as it shifted over the grass. Neither of them raised their crossbows, neither of them made a step towards the man who had tormented their group. They just stood and watched him as he seemed to carry on a conversation with himself. His head tilted to the side as if there was someone or something next to him that had his attention.

And then suddenly he stopped.

His head turned slowly, his face gradually becoming visible as he looked at them. Several long scratches ran down his face, the empty eye socket bleeding out once more.

"There she is." The Governor whispered, a smile crossing his face. With the surrounding silence, they heard him clearly. Neither of them reacted. "There's my girl. My little...Isabeau. So smart, so pretty. Apple of my FUCKING EYE!" His voice rose up drastically as he started laughing. Bo's hand flinched for her knife but she made no other reaction. "Bye baby bunting...daddy's gone a-hunting, right? RIGHT?" He stumbled up to his feet, wavering slightly. Their eyes shot down to his side where a hole was torn clean through his shirt and they could see blood pouring from the wound. "That's the song, ain't it sweetheart? Your momma...she used to sing that to you every night. Even when you were grown. Never once sang to Penny. Guess that made you special."

He looked like he was going to try and walk to them but changed his mind. His foot lifted and he wavered slightly before planting it firmly back down. Bo tilted her head up, calmly observing the final break down of her father. A snarl came from their side but Daryl had instantly lifted and shot free a bolt from his crossbow into the head of a walker coming their way, halting the interruption.

"You know, the day she died, your momma laughed." The Governor stated. He clenched his hands into fists, frowning finally. "The bitch laid there, Penny standing over her, and fucking laughed. She thinks she won, thinks she got the last laugh. But she was wrong." He looked up at the sky and lifted his arms up, fists aimed upwards. "YOU HEAR THAT! YOU WERE WRONG! NOBODY WINS! NOBODY GETS THE LAST LAUGH!" He paused, his whole body going motionless. Bo gripped her knife and prepared herself to use it as the Governor slowly lowered his head, his eye focusing on her. "Because you either kill or die...or die then kill."

His arms fell to his sides as his body crumbled to the ground. The last rays of the sun drifted across the grass over his prone figure.

Everything was silent again.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

They had stayed there, watching and waiting, until he rose again. They waited until he caught sight of them, until he made his stumbling path towards them. Just when he was finally upon them, they simultaneously rammed their knives through either ear, putting the monster down for good.

Although it didn't feel to be enough.

But what could they do?

They kept a firm grasp of each others hands as they moved back through the darkened forest. They'd burn up everything in the day time, no use causing attention with a flame in the dark. Making their way to where the trucks and bike were parked, they decided that one of the trucks would do for resting in. Bo shifted around until her back was against Daryl's side, his arm looping loosely across her chest. They held their crossbows on their laps, eyes gazing sleepily out the windows.

"That make you feel any better?" Daryl asked quietly. They had been silent for so long that his voice sounded rougher than usual. Bo tilted her head back to look up at him. Sighing, she lifted a hand to hold onto his arm and tilted her head back down, lips brushing across his skin.

"No." Bo whispered. She shifted again, turning slightly and burying her face in his neck. "Should have. But...didn't seem good enough."

"We can beat up the body when we go back." Daryl remarked. Bo laughed lightly and kissed over his pulse. He made a grunting noise and tightened his arm on her when she bit softly. "Think they notice we're gone yet?"

"Possibly." Bo muttered, curling against him. He glanced down at her and kissed the top of her head before leaning his head against her hair. "Least we got that threat dealt with."

"Yeah...least that's something." Daryl agreed, blinking slowly.

He swears he only closed his eyes for a few seconds but when he opened them again, his side was cold and Bo was outside, stabbing a few staggering walkers as they came to feast on the dead bodies. Daryl yawned and stretched, listening to the crack of his bones before he slid out of the truck.

"Hey there sleeping beauty." Bo greeted cheerfully. Daryl raised an eyebrow, curious about the happy mood. He watched her take down the last walker before she turned to him and then he realized what it was.

She got to kill things.

It was a twisted day when killing something brought joy to a person who was going to take that doctor's oath to save lives.

Of course, these things were already dead.

"You get them all?" Daryl asked, looking around.

"Yep." Bo replied, sliding her knife back away. He looked her over carefully. She looked happy, calm, a little dirty but otherwise fine. Maybe it wasn't just killing the walkers. He thought it over as they headed back off to take care of the Governor's body. He'd never really seen her this way. Judging by the sun in the sky, it was just after daybreak. She couldn't have slept too long. Obviously walkers pawing at the truck hadn't been what woke her because it would have gotten him as well. And the sun was blocked from them by the trees.

He realized he hadn't felt her twisting and turning over the course of their sleeping but then that had been the first time they had slept in a vehicle that close together. There had been a few times over the eight months of running but they hadn't been right up against each other like they were.

And then the answer just came to him.

Her father was dead.

Whatever the man had done to her, been like over the whatever amount of years she had stayed with him, it was enough to bother her for the rest of the years that she had been gone. The days between her return to the prison and the previous day, she barely seemed to sleep at all.

The way he had died may not have been justice enough for either of them but it was enough to settle whatever damage he had caused to the woman.

_***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***_

"We were just about to come looking for you guys." Anna greeted as she opened the gate up for the bike. "Where the hell did you two go?"

"Taking care of business." Bo explained. The group gathered around them and Bo tossed the Governor's eye patch to the ground.

"That mean he's..." Andrea muttered, holding her breath on the answer.

"Dead, dead and burned." Bo answered, smiling.

"Good riddance to that." Michonne remarked.

"It's a good thing you're back." Glenn spoke up. Bo looked at him and tilted her head. "Me and Maggie are getting married."

"Way to go, China man." Daryl joked, grinning. Bo smiled happily and hugged her friend, kissing his cheek. "So how's that supposed to work anyways?"

"Dad's going to do it." Beth answered.

"Just a small thing...real casual." Maggie teased. The group smiled, sharing laughs. The weight was lifted off their shoulders for the time being and they grasped at the feeling with both hands.

It clearly was small and casual as they did it just there, gathered in the court yard of the prison. They ventured out into the grassy area, killing the walkers that were inside and putting up a barricade at the broken gate finally. Bo got to stand as the Best Man, something Daryl teased her about until she put him in a headlock and forced him onto his knees. That couple disappeared almost as fast as the newlyweds and then everyone else wandered off to do their own things. Rick travelled around the fence, looking out at the walkers on the outside.

"So we're safe." Anna remarked, coming up on his side with her hands behind her back and a smile on her face. Rick looked at her and grinned. He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side, kissing her forehead as her arm went around his waist and they walked.

"For now, yeah." Rick agreed, looking around. "It's a good feeling. Besides that we're living in a prison...it's almost...normal."

"I like seeing you at ease like this." Anna mused, smiling. She turned slightly, stopping their steps as she ran a hand across his scruffy chin. "Makes you seem...younger. Like how you were at the start of all this."

"Lot of things have changed since then." Rick muttered. "Realizing people are...just as dangerous as those things. Maybe sometimes worse." Anna sighed and leaned her head on his chest. She felt his hand running up and down her back and for a moment, neither of them spoke. She listened to his heartbeat, letting it drown out the groans of the walkers just outside the fence. "Anna..."

"Yeah?" Anna questioned as her head lifted up to look at him.

"You know I...that I...uh..." Rick frowned slightly as the words didn't come. Anna raised an eyebrow and then she grinned, watching him stumble over what he was trying to say. She leaned closer and kissed him softly.

"I know." Anna muttered against his lips. He sighed and smiled, pulling her closer. Somewhere from within the prison, they could hear the sounds of Amy starting to cry, reminding them that there was other people and things that had to be done to ensure they all continued to survive.

* * *

So this took me some time. I blame work and having next to no time anymore now that I'm going to it all the time. I've been getting an idea lately for another Walking Dead fic. I know I have a few stories that I need to get back to, one of which I'm taking down because I just can't do it anymore. I should have just stopped it a while back, gave it an ending but I just kept going. I may or may not do the new Walking Dead one and I also may or may not do a Boondock Saints one because I finally got to watch both movies and there's been an idea floating around my head ever since lol.


	23. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

So I was telling people that the last chapter wasn't the end of the story but the more I thought about and the more it looked to be the perfect end to this, the more it made sense to finish things off there. Besides, my new TWD story is basically going to end up taking over my ideas that I had for post season three stuff so I can't function two stories in the same zone lol.

So here I offer an epilogue to share the end of Bo and Daryl's adventures in the apocalypse. Just something little that I've been thinking of for a bit.

* * *

Bo walked along the wall and looked out at the street with the broken down cars strategically placed as barriers. Her head tilted as she watched three walkers swarm over the dead carcass she had left to hang in a tree earlier that day. She moved herself back along the wall then bent over, placing her hands on her knees as she put herself at Lucy's height.

"Okay kiddo, now simple enough, look through the scope, take a deep breath and fire." Bo instructed. Lucy looked at her skeptically then nodded and lifted the shotgun.

The move into Woodbury hadn't been a planned or even anticipated event. Shane and Andrea had gone first not long after Glenn and Maggie's "wedding". Realizing that there was still people in the town and with the Governor dead, they needed someone to watch out for them. The people had known Shane and Andrea, trusted them. It took some time to get them to understand that Rick's group weren't terrorists and when that day had finally come around, there was an open venue for trading supplies and working together.

Four months after that, as temperatures started dropping and storms started to roll in, the prison group realized just how poor off their shelter was after all the attacks and their destruction. A particularly violent storm that almost led into a tornado, had brought part of the roof down in their cell block. Thankfully, no one had gotten caught in it but Carl and Hershel had gotten hurt by debris that had fallen and bounced. Add that further damage to the fact that it was freezing, an issue that had gotten Beth, Lucy and even Bo caught with colds, and the group had no choice but to move into Woodbury. They had asked first of course, made sure the people there were alright with it, and worked out an arrangement with Shane about housing.

Hershel, Glenn, Maggie, Beth and Lucy now shared a house, Rick, Anna and Carl had another and Daryl and Bo shared with a previous couple called Mark and Jane. They were far more timid than their new housemates and so the duo made sure to keep their antics more to the outside world than inside the house.

When they had moved into Woodbury and were introducing themselves, Bo had made it perfectly clear that she didn't want to be known to any of them as the Governor's daughter. She had introduced herself instead as Bo Dixon. Daryl had just looked at her, the corner of his mouth twitching upward slightly, before giving a nod of approval. Their group hadn't even been shocked by it but it had become a source of jokes for Glenn whenever he had a wall patrol shift with Bo.

"How's the junior training coming, Mrs Dixon?" Glenn made his appearance just as Lucy fired the shotgun. Bo glanced at him then jumped when Lucy started bouncing up and down.

"I hit one!" The young girl exclaimed happily. Bo laughed and patted the preteen's shoulder.

"Great...now get the other ones that are now realizing we're here." She instructed. Lucy paused and stared at the walkers that were looking at them and slowly giving up on the carcass to make an attempt at fresh meat. "Deep breath, aim and shoot."

"Deep breath, aim, shoot." Lucy repeated, lifting the shotgun. "Deep breath, aim, shoot." She kept muttering to herself as she followed the instructions and fired, jolting backwards slightly and missing. Her panic started to build and Bo glanced at Glenn.

"You can do it, Luc." Glenn encouraged softly. Lucy looked at him with her wide eyes and nodded before looking back out at the walkers. Glenn and Maggie had become like parents to the young girl and she had fully accepted their presence, opening up more and more with each day before it was almost impossible to make her shut up sometimes.

Although Daryl was the only one who said it out loud, most of the group did have moments where they wished the young girl had reverted back to her muted days on occasion. Everyone loved her, they were just easily annoyed when they were still at the prison. Now that they were in Woodbury with other people and several more children for Carl and Lucy to hang out with, it was easier on all of them. Carl was even beginning to act like a kid again, rather than some surly grown up. Lucy had started the process with him, made him feel special by being the only person she talked to for the first month, and now they had more people to be around. The younger children all looked up to Carl due to him carrying around a gun and knowing how to use it.

Glenn and Bo watched with grins as Lucy managed to shoot the two remaining walkers, only missing three times which was better than her previous attempts.

"That's gonna draw in more." Bo commented quietly.

"Well it'll give some close up practise, Mrs Dixon." Glenn pointed out. Bo smiled at him and pushed him lightly. Glenn grinned, happy that she took his teasing lightly. "Keep an eye out, Luc." The young girl nodded, pleased with her accomplishment and excited for more now that the risk was low. Glenn put an arm around Bo's shoulders and led her along the wall. She looked at him carefully, understanding his motives, and couldn't help but grin.

"So how far along is she?" Bo asked.

"I...how did...why do you do that?" Glenn asked, staring at her.

"Because it bugs you." Bo replied, smiling. "Plus, hello...med student. I know how pregnant woman look and act, dude. Maggie ain't usually as snippy as she's been, nor does she tear up as easily."

"Don't know how far she is." Glenn muttered, taking his hat off and rubbing his head. "Don't have anything really to use to be able to tell."

"Well least it got figured out." Bo pointed out. Glenn nodded and smiled slightly. "You're gonna be a daddy."

"Just wait for the day that you be a mom." Glenn taunted.

"Don't you ever say something like that round Daryl, he will strangle you." Bo threatened with a smile. Glenn smiled back and shook his head. "I'm done my shift, wall is yours."

"Yeah yeah, Mrs Dixon, tell the husband I say hi." Glenn insisted. Bo nodded and kissed his cheek than went down the steps. "Oh and, Bo." She looked up at him then rolled her eyes and stuck her middle finger up when he made baby sounds.

She passed Mark and Jane on her way to the house and when they told her that Daryl was home, she sped her steps. Not that she was interested on giving any sort of truth to Glenn's teasing but it had been a couple of days since the two of them had time to themselves where they weren't tired.

Clearly, Daryl had the same thought. As soon as Bo was in the door, he had grabbed her and pulled her to their room. Their housemates hadn't annoyed them to any extent so they weren't about to soil the couch or any other surface just to secretly irritate them.

"Guess I don't have to ask if you missed me." Bo teased just before her back hit the bedroom door after they entered the room. She groaned when Daryl held her against the wood and latched his mouth to hers. Her hands went to the back of his neck, her fingers brushing over the short hairs on his head. A. while back she had managed to find scissors and went about cutting Daryl's hair back to the length it had been two years ago after his endless bitching about it getting into his eyes and his refusal to tie it back and look like a girly man. They had even found razors and so each of the men had received nice clean shaven faces and the girls were ecstatic about shaving their legs.

"Missed doesn't even cover it, Bo Bo." Daryl growled against her mouth. He grabbed her thighs and lifted her up, bringing her to the bed and dropping her unceremoniously onto it. Bo grinned and sat up, grabbing his shirt to pull him down with her. He went easily and his eyes rolled back when Bo attacked his neck as her hands worked open the buttons on his shirt. His hands forced her jeans down her legs, pushing off her shoes at the same time. He sat her up as she opened his jeans and lifted her shirt over her head, letting out a groan when he saw her braless.

Bo giggled when Daryl buried his face between her breasts, the stubble of his growing beard scratching and tickling at her scarred skin. She pushed at his jeans until they were down far enough to get her hand around what she wanted. He let out a growling type of sound and it just made her grin as she worked her hand back and forward.

"Fuck Bo..." Daryl grumbled, pressing his lips against the side of her breast. He frowned as she went slower right when he wanted her faster.

"Gonna make you say it." Bo taunted, moving her hand slowly, twisting gently every so often. Daryl grumbled, shaking his head slightly. "Come on you big bad ass."

"Fuck you." Daryl retorted.

"You wanna." Bo pointed out. She let go and wrapped her legs around his waist, rubbing against him and sighing. "So badly." Daryl groaned and kissed up her shoulder, over her scar from her father's gun and to her neck, biting hard on the flesh. Bo gasped, hissing from the slight pain and then moaning when his tongue came out to sooth the bite. "Say it, Daryl."

"I say it...then we fuck?" Daryl asked.

"Uh huh." Bo agreed, nodding her head slightly.

"Fine." Daryl caved. Bo grinned the yelped in surprise when he looped his arm around her waist and dove to the side, flipping them over and putting her on top of him. He rammed his hips upward, entering her swiftly and enjoying the view as the blonde woman quickly leaned back, grasping at his thighs. "I fucking love you, woman."

"There you go." Bo moaned, moving her hips at their favourite pace.

The sentiment was shared for the first time not too long ago when Daryl had disappeared for a week without a trace. He came back in some car that he had found with three deer carcasses in the trunk and the back seat full of supplies. Bo had rushed him, slapped him then kissed him, and told him that she loved him and if he ever did something like that again, she'd fucking kill him. The whole thing had resulted in Daryl decided that they needed to sully the big house the Governor had taken over and that had been sitting empty all that time. Their sexcapades throughout the building, resulting in Daryl finally returning the sentiment, had basically prompted people to return to using it. Of course, it had just ended up being turned into a school for the children since there wasn't anything usable for that but it had finally been put to use once more.

"Damn Bo Bo." Daryl muttered once Bo collapsed onto him. She giggled softly and kissed a scar on his chest before lifting her head to look at him. Daryl looked at her and raised an eyebrow, eyes narrowing slightly under the gaze. "What?"

"I just love making you say that you love me." Bo replied. She squealed and laughed when he suddenly tickled her sides.

"You make me fucking say it, I ain't quitting till you do it now, crazy bitch." Daryl insisted, moving his hands quickly to evade her attempts to grab them.

"Fuck...you...I love ya...stupid...dumb...redneck." Bo gasped out between laughs. Daryl shot his hand upward and gripped her hair then dragged her head down to kiss her roughly. She responded favourably and soon found herself on her back again. "Round two then?"

"Fuck yeah." Daryl agreed.

* * *

That's it.

The End.

Go home.

Although you probably are home lol. Like I said, I thought I'd continue this story further than this but then I started a new TWD story and that's taking place post season 3 so any ideas I could have used here are going to go there. And besides, I've learned from a specific Supernatural story that trying to keep in time with the show and everything is hard work and I cannot pull it off.

I hope you guys enjoyed this story and please go check out Hunter's Dawning, the new TWD fic. I should have the second chapter up for that soon, along with a picture or two.


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